ANCHORAGE, AK (Alaska’s News Source) – Storm impacts including high winds, heavy rain, flooding, and high surf are beginning to shift east as a strong fall storm makes its way to the Interior and Southcentral Alaska.

In Southcentral, Tuesday is a day you’ll probably want to wear a rain jacket and hold onto your hat. Strong winds are in store for Tuesday and Wednesday for much of the region, with highest gusts from Anchorage to Kenai. A Wind Advisory will be in effect for much of Tuesday through Wednesday as wind gusts build to 50 mph from Anchorage down the Western Kenai Peninsula. Moderate to heavy rainfall is also in the forecast for Southcentral with the bulk of the region’s rainfall taking place throughout the afternoon hours.

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High winds and heavy rain are impacts ahead for the Interior as well, with wind gusts up to 45 MPH from the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area to the Fairbanks Borough. Fairbanks will remain fairly calm in terms of winds for Tuesday, but winds will increase overnight and throughout Wednesday. Between 0.2 to 0.5 inches of rain are likely in Fairbanks today with Wednesday reflecting similar rain totals.

The Slope will feel some impacts of the fall storm with a chance of snow pushing into the Brooks Range Tuesday evening. Skies will remain mostly cloudy through the day and especially overnight with high temperatures cooling to the 30s, and lows dropping to the 30s. Locations near the Brooks Range should prepare for scattered showers and a chance of snow into the evening hours and overnight.

Western Alaska is in store for the second day of the strongest storm impacts. Heaviest rain will have fallen from yesterday continuing into this afternoon. These showers will extend as far north as Kotzebue and span as far south as Dillingham. An additional 0.2 to 0.6 inches will contribute to a high rain total in Southwest Alaska as other impacts such as flooding and high surf remain imminent. A High Surf Advisory remains in effect into Wednesday morning with water levels 1.5 to 4 feet above the highest tide line. Wind gusts up to 65 mph remain a factor for your Tuesday in Nome, Hooper Bay, and Kipnuk.

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Mostly dry conditions remain in Southeast with partly sunny skies turning to cloudy skies in Sitka and Juneau as the day progresses. From Haines to Skagway, cloudy skies will shift to a drizzle by the evening hours with wind gusts picking up to 20 to 30 mph. Otherwise, partly cloudy to sunny skies are sticking around for one more day in Ketchikan and Petersburg despite a foggy start to the day. High temperatures will sit in the 60s region-wide with wet weather making a comeback by Wednesday.

The Aleutian Chain is drying up, but wind gusts up to 40 mph will still remain from Cold Bay to Dillingham. Partly sunny skies will stretch from Unalaska to Cold Bay with cloudy skies in store for western locations such as Shemya and Adak.

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The Parks Highway corridor between Willow and Cantwell has changed considerably since the Talkeetna Alaska State Troopers post was closed in 2016. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has continued to grow, tourism has expanded, and millions of vehicles travel this critical corridor every year. What has not grown is the permanent law enforcement presence serving the Upper Susitna Valley. Today, roughly 160 road miles separate the trooper posts serving the Mat-Su and Cantwell. It is time for our public safety infrastructure to catch up with the communities and traffic it serves.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors travel the Parks Highway north toward Denali each summer. Throughout the rest of the year, Alaskans travel the same corridor for work, school activities, sporting events, recreation and to visit family and friends. For many of them, this is not simply a scenic highway. It is the primary transportation link between Southcentral and Interior Alaska.

We came close to closing this critical public safety gap in 2025. Funding to restore the post was included in the budget and would have allowed us to begin rebuilding a permanent trooper presence in the area. Unfortunately, the Alaska state Senate removed that funding, leaving this 160-mile gap in place and thousands of Alaskans underserved. We should not allow another year to pass without addressing it.

This is not just about putting another building along the highway. It is about putting troopers closer to the people who need them.

The patrol area for this post covers thousands of square miles and generates thousands of calls for troopers each year. Troopers routinely respond to vehicle collisions, welfare checks, criminal activity, domestic violence disturbances and other calls throughout the region. Those calls do not disappear because the nearest trooper is many miles away. Instead, troopers must travel significant distances to respond, increasing response times and reducing their availability elsewhere in the patrol area. Recent department data continues to show substantial call volume throughout the proposed patrol area.

Department data collected over several years shows sustained demand for law enforcement throughout Willow, Talkeetna, Trapper Creek, Petersville and the surrounding area. Hundreds of vehicle collisions and welfare checks have required trooper responses, while the region has also experienced significant numbers of incidents involving drugs, alcohol, disturbances and other criminal activity.

Troopers along this corridor respond to serious and fatal crashes, stranded motorists, missing people, search and rescue missions and emergencies in communities far from other public safety resources. Alaska Wildlife Troopers also have significant responsibilities throughout an area that includes heavily used hunting, fishing, boating and recreational areas.

The Mat-Su Borough and Upper Susitna Valley continue to grow, and our public safety infrastructure must keep pace. A permanent trooper presence in Talkeetna or Trapper Creek is a practical investment in the safety of the people who live, work, travel and recreate along the Parks Highway. It would mean faster response times, stronger traffic enforcement, more proactive policing, improved access to law enforcement and better coverage of this critical corridor.

We had an opportunity to close this gap in 2025. In 2027, we should finish the job.

James Cockrell is the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety. He is a lifelong Alaskan and 35-year veteran of the Alaska State Troopers.

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US Coast Guard photo.

THE ALASKA STORY

Sept. 14, 2026 – A fire broke out Monday at Whittier’s newly built cruise ship terminal, prompting a multi-agency response and forcing a large cruise ship to pull away from the dock.

The US Coast Guard said watchstanders at Sector Western Alaska and US Arctic received a report at approximately 11 am that a fire had started at the north cruise ship terminal.

The Klondike Express, a tour boat operated by Phillips Cruises and Tours, caught fire while moored alongside the pier. No passengers were aboard the vessel, which was heavily damaged.

The tour boat was released from the pier and moved away, allowing crews to extinguish the fire aboard the vessel. Firefighting operations at the terminal remained underway Monday afternoon.

Photos and videos posted by tourists showed flames and heavy smoke rising from the dock. The Norwegian Jade was docked at the terminal at the time but safely departed the area, according to the Coast Guard. The ship had been scheduled to depart Whittier on Monday for a seven-night Alaska cruise.

There have been no reports of injuries.

The Coast Guard established a 500-yard safety zone around the fire and asked residents, tourists and mariners to remain clear of the area so emergency crews could work.

Coast Guard personnel from Sector Western Alaska and a response boat crew from Station Valdez were on scene assisting local agencies. A Coast Guard pollution-response team was also traveling to Whittier to investigate and respond to any possible fuel or oil discharge.

The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel between Portage and Whittier was also expected to be closed for several hours during the emergency response.

The fire occurred at the Chugach Glacier Gateway Cruise Terminal, an approximately $80 million development built by Huna Totem Corp. in partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. The terminal had a soft opening in September 2024 and was developed to serve Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. It includes facilities for cruise passengers, buses and Alaska Railroad service.

The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage to the terminal were not immediately known.

This is a developing story and will be updated as additional information becomes available.