Foothills areas closed to offroad travel

Petroleum News

The eastern and western North Slope coastal areas remain open to offroad travel, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Mining, Land and Water said in a March 13 update, but the foothills areas remain closed.

The division said it has completed an assessment of snow conditions and soil temperatures with all tundra opening areas sampled March 8.

Snow conditions in both the eastern and western coastal areas of the Slope remain good, although weather patterns and ambient temperatures have been variable over the last few weeks, the division said.

At most monitoring stations in the lower and upper foothills wind slab has softened.

Both coastal areas remain open. The eastern coastal area opened Jan. 4 and the western coastal area opened Dec. 16.

Neither foothills area has opened; both remain closed.

In the lower foothills area average snow depths have decreased due to warm temperatures and wind, resulting in widespread exposed vegetation. “The slab was weak; it was barely strong enough to support an average person’s weight,” the division said. The soil temperatures at all stations have reached the required minus 5 degrees C at a depth of 30 centimeters.

In the upper foothills, snow was slushy and the average snow depth had decreased from 6.9 inches to 3.65 inches. “Large areas of exposed vegetation were observed,” the division said, although soil temperature requirements had been met at three of four monitoring stations.

The division said staff will return to the Slope in early to mid-April to continue monitoring snow conditions and temperatures.

- Petroleum News