Major highways closed

Unseasonable weather is creating havoc for the territory's highways, forcing the closures of three main routes and travel advisories for five others.

Unseasonable weather is creating havoc for the territory’s highways, forcing the closures of three main routes and travel advisories for five others.

The Alaska Highway between Haines Junction and Beaver Creek was closed early Sunday afternoon because of heavy snowfall and icy conditions, Doris Wurfbaum, a spokeswoman for the territorial highways branch, explained this morning.

She said crews were hoping to have the 355-kilometre stretch open this afternoon.

Also closed Sunday was the Haines Road from Haines Junction to Haines, and the Dempster Highway from the Dempster cutoff at kilometre-zero to the North Fork River at km 67.

The stretch of the Dempster Highway north of Eagle Plain to Fort McPherson, N.W.T., was shut down because of driving winds and blowing snow.

Wurfbaum said travel advisories are also in effect for five other roadways:

* Motorists can expect to encounter black ice on the Alaska Highway between the Takhini River and Haines Junction.

* Motorists can expect to encounter black ice on the South Klondike Highway; from the Alaska Highway through to Carcross and down to the Canada-U.S. border;

* Motorists can expect to encounter black ice on the North Klondike Highway from Gravel Lake at km 622 to Dawson City;

* Motorists can expect to encounter black ice on the Atlin and Tagish roads.

Wurfbaum said road crews are going flat-out and were hoping to have all highways operational today.

Travellers, she pointed out, can check the status of particular routes by phoning 511, or going to 511Yukon.com. Highway conditions are updated regularly through the day, she said.

“We would like to remind travellers to slow down, be aware of black ice and the freezing and thawing conditions everywhere.”

Wurfbaum said bridge decks are particularly slippery in these types of conditions.

The return to more seasonal temperatures will begin Tuesday afternoon, Environment Canada meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau explained this morning.

“We had a very strong ridge of high pressure that sort of sat itself over the western half of North American,” she said. “It has managed to move some very high temperatures north all the way into the Yukon.

“As a result, we have some record-breaking temperatures.”

Charbonneau said Sunday’s high of 10 C at Erik Nielsen International Airport was a full degree warmer than the previous January record of 9 C set on Jan. 26, 1977.

The high will begin breaking down tomorrow, and while the afternoon will start above zero, it will drop later in the day, she said.

“By Friday, we are looking at a high of -12, which is a lot more seasonal.”