Minor injuries reported as school bus overturns on icy Valley road

Update, 10:52 a.m. Friday: Mat-Su Borough officials now say two children and a bus driver were transported to the hospital for evaluation after a school bus overturned on Edlund Road. Alaska State Troopers say they received reports that the injuries involved were minor. More reports of accidents involving buses and multiple vehicle accidents in the Mat-Su are still coming in. Update, 10:45 a.m. Friday: Alaska State Troopers say a Mat-Su school bus has overturned on an icy road near Wasilla. The bus was on its side on Edlund Road, which is off Fairview Loop Road. Here's a statement from Mat-Su Borough: "All 14 kids and bus driver are OK after bus overturned on Edlund Road and Lavender Lane in Knik-Fairview area. Medics checked everyone out. A bus and parent drivers took kids to school. "Over on Settlers Bay, a bus slid sideways due to a driver that tried to pass on the icy hill. No injuries. "Roads are dangerous. Multiple accidents reported in short time earlier. Weather report says the freezing rain expected to turn to snow after 3 p.m. Borough Public Works is out in force on roads." Update 10:15 a.m., Friday: The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning for Anchorage until noon Friday, according to meteorologist Dave Stricklan. Stricklan said the area is expected to get three-tenths of an inch of ice, up from the one-tenth of an inch predicted earlier, with freezing rain continuing until between noon and 1 p.m. The precipitation has hit the frigid streets and made for difficult driving conditions, Stricklan said. “We’re looking at a high temperature right around freezing, 31 or 32,” he said. “But the ground is already fairly cold. I don’t think the ground is going to get above freezing.” A cold front is expected to move in later in the afternoon, bringing with it between 3 and 6 inches of snow. Update, 9:35 a.m. Friday: A layer of ice on main roads in the Wasilla area has led to at least 21 accidents or vehicles in distress in less than two hours, one serious enough to send two people to the hospital, authorities say. Alaska State Troopers closed Vine Road west of Wasilla by 9 a.m. Friday due to icy conditions and the number of vehicles stuck on the road and the side of the road, troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said. The injury accident involved a semi that jackknifed on the Parks Highway bridge near the Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry west of Wasilla, according to Clint Vardeman, deputy director of the Mat-Su Emergency Services Department. Roads west and north of Wasilla are so bad that firetrucks can’t get from one emergency scene to another, both said. “It apparently is a real mess,” Vardeman said. “They're trying to get DOT trucks to sand right now.” He said power was out in the Sutton area as well. The Mat-Su Borough School District around 8:45 a.m. made an automated call to families warning that the weather changed after the decision was made to keep schools open and buses might be delayed. The district decided to run buses after conditions changed in part because parents had already left for work and children were waiting at stops, according to the recording from district spokeswoman Catherine Esary. “The number one issue today is for us to keep everyone safe,” Esary said. She instructed parents driving children to school to “please make the decision you believe is best for you and your family.” As of about 9:15 a.m. Friday, school transportation officials said buses had chained up and were running late. There were no reports of injuries but buses in the Pittman Road and Settlers Bay area had trouble, borough officials said. Update, 9:30 a.m. Friday: Anchorage police have reported two non-injury vehicle accidents Friday morning, one caused by icy roads. At East 15th Avenue and Sitka Street a vehicle went out of control and hit a tree around 8:52 a.m., according to Anita Shell, police spokeswoman. Police briefly closed 15th Avenue between Orca Street and Lake Otis Parkway. Soon after, at 8:57 a.m., a two-car collision occurred at McRae Road and Spenard Road. Shell said she did not believe the weather to be a factor in the crash. Since midnight, police have responded to eight accidents and 10 vehicles in distress. That’s typical, Shell said. But still, she said, drivers should “use caution, drive slowly and avoid icy roads if they can.” Update, 9 a.m. Friday: The Seward city manager sent home all non-essential city personnel Friday morning as rain continues to fall in the area after last night's snowfall. "Every secondary road is just ice over snow,, and then it's still raining, so it's quite slick," said Brenda Ballou, deputy city clerk. Ballou said the city rarely sends home its employees. She noted her drive to work this morning wasn't easy. "I stuck to the main road so it was OK, but as soon as I had to turn off onto the secondary road it was just a blanket of ice," she said. The city also warned travelers of hazardous road conditions on the Seward Highway leading into Seward. "If you do not have to be on the highway today you are advised to not travel," said Johanna Kinney, Seward city clerk. Update, 6:45 a.m. Friday: Weather advisories remain in effect for Anchorage and the Mat-Su on Friday, with freezing rain and several inches of snow forecast. The Girdwood K-8 school is closed because of poor driving conditions on the Seward Highway, and school bus service between Girdwood and South High School has been canceled, the Anchorage School District said. Other Anchorage and Mat-Su schools are open as usual. On the Kenai Peninsula, schools in Seward and Moose Pass are closed, according to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. Freezing rain with ice forming on surfaces is forecast for Anchorage starting Friday morning, turning to all snow, possibly heavy, later in the day. Three to 6 inches of snow is forecast for Anchorage, and 4 to 7 inches for the Matanuska Valley. Five to 10 inches of snow is forecast for the Susitna Valley. Read current weather advisories and forecasts here. Earlier story: Anchorage commuters can expect an icy end to the work week as Thursday's snow flurries turn into a wintery mix Friday morning, forecasters predict. The storm, which worked its way up from Kodiak on Thursday, is expected to drop 2 to 6 inches of snow on Anchorage along with about one-tenth of an inch of ice and sleet, according to the National Weather Service. The service issued a winter weather advisory from midnight Thursday through late Friday. The low-pressure system will boost temperatures in the region but perhaps not quickly enough to ease the Friday morning commute, according to Dave Stricklan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage. "It's going to take a little bit to get the ground warmed up," he said. Stricklan said the mercury will climb from lows in the 10s and 20s late Thursday to highs in the upper 20s and 30s by Friday. And what began as snow flurries Thursday night was expected to turn into a mix of sleet and freezing rain sometime after midnight, Stricklan said. When the precipitation hits the ground, which is already cold from this week's frigid temperatures, ice will form, he said. The freezing rain should transition back into snow by Friday evening and taper off by the end of the day. There's a small chance of snow Saturday, Stricklan said, but "the main brunt of it will be tonight through Friday evening." Winds also are expected to howl along Turnagain Arm and at higher Anchorage elevations, from 35 to 50 mph Friday morning, courtesy of the low-pressure system, said forecasters. In Fairbanks, a winter weather advisory is in effect for the same system until 3 p.m. Friday. The National Weather Service expects wind gusts up to 40 mph over mountain summits and warns of blowing snow, according to Scott Berg, a meteorologist with the service in Fairbanks. Nearly all areas surrounding Anchorage are also under a winter weather advisory for a portion of the day Friday as the storm moves through, including the Copper River Basin, Sustina Valley, the lower Kuskokwim Valley and the Bristol Bay region. Reach Tegan Hanlon at thanlon@adn.com or 257-4589. Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/11/21/3190369/forecasters-warn-of-challenging.html#storylink=cpy