VALDEZ, Alaska – A new weather station was recently installed above one of the main highways in south-central Alaska to protect drivers from avalanches.
Known as the Richardson Highway, the road runs north-to-south through Thompson Pass, a 2,800-foot valley just east of Valdez.
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said Thompson Pass is the snowiest place in the state, receiving an average of nearly 46 feet of snow every year.
Such heavy snowfall has produced several avalanches on Richardson Highway. Officials have now installed the Three Pigs South Summit Weather Station above the highest-risk avalanche zone on Richardson Highway.
The new weather station.
(Alaska Department of Transportation / FOX Weather)
Installed at 6,620 feet, the weather station is the highest elevation weather station in the Chugach Mountain Range, Alaska DOTPS officials said.
The weather station will provide weather data about avalanches, and give officials the opportunity to plan their avalanche mitigation efforts and increase accuracy in avalanche forecasting, according to the Alaska DOTPF officials.
Map showing the route of Richardson Highway in dark blue.
(Alaska Department of Transportation / FOX Weather)
The agency noted that the station will provide information that will also produce more accurate weather forecasts, which is critical for snow plowing operations, as well as avalanche safety.
Richardson Highway is located east of Anchorage and runs from Valdez on the coast to Fairbanks over 350 miles north in Interior Alaska.
