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Avalanche control closes Yukon highway and advisory issued for blizzard conditions

The South Klondike Highway closed on Jan. 24 for Yukon Highways and Public Works to conduct avalanche control work and weather advisory warnings have been issued for the Dempster Highway and Old Crow
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Crews work to clear the South Klondike Highway after an avalanche back in 2021. (Black Press Files/Submitted)

The entire stretch of the South Klondike Highway between Carcross and the U.S. has been closed by Yukon Highways and Public Works department to conduct avalanche control in the area, the department announced on Jan. 23.

The closure took effect on Jan. 24 at 6 a.m. and is expected to reopen in the afternoon. 

Avalanche Canada, a non-governmental national avalanche safety organization, reported that a deeply buried weak layer continues to produce large avalanches in the area, posing considerable danger for people at treeline and alpine levels.

511 Yukon is also advising travellers on the Dempster Highway that blizzard conditions and winds of up to 80 kilometres an hour are expected to reduce visibility to near zero, beginning on Jan. 24 in the early afternoon and settling on Jan. 25 in the morning. The Dempster is closed from Eagle Plains to the N.W.T. border.

Hazardous blizzard conditions are expected to hit the portion of the Dempster Highway from Tombstone National Park to the Richardson Mountain Ranges bordering the N.W.T., as well as Old Crow and Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.

Environment Canada is reporting that on Jan. 24, Old Crow will experience the blizzard with 2 C conditions and blowing snow with a snowfall amount of two centimetres. Weather reports from the national meteorology agency contrast these conditions in Old Crow with those in Whitehorse, where -7 C conditions are expected on Jan. 24.

Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com

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