A Douglas street is blanketed in snow on Dec. 6, 2025. (Mari Kanagy / Juneau Empire)

Precipitation is forecast later this week. Will it be rain or snow?

Two storm systems are expected to move through Juneau toward the end of the week.

 

A residence stands on Tuesday, Dec. 23 after a fatal house fire burned on Saturday, Dec. 20. (Mari Kanagy / Juneau Empire)

2 house fires burn in 3 days at Switzer Village

Causes of the fires are still under investigation.

 

A house on Telephone Hill stands on Dec. 22, 2025. (Mari Kanagy / Juneau Empire)

Court sets eviction date for Telephone Hill residents as demolition plans move forward

A lawsuit against the city seeks to reverse evictions and halt demolition is still pending.

 

Juneauites warm their hands and toast marshmallows around the fire at the “Light the Night" event on winter solstice, on Dec. 21, 2025. (Mari Kanagy / Juneau Empire)

A mile of lights marked Juneau’s darkest day

Two ski teams hosted a luminous winter solstice celebration at Mendenhall Loop.

Juneauites warm their hands and toast marshmallows around the fire at the “Light the Night" event on winter solstice, on Dec. 21, 2025. (Mari Kanagy / Juneau Empire)
A Capital City Fire/Rescue truck drives in the Mendenhall Valley in 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Juneau man found dead following residential fire

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

A Capital City Fire/Rescue truck drives in the Mendenhall Valley in 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
CBJ sign reads “Woodstove burn ban in effect.” (City and Borough of Juneau photo)

Update: CBJ cancels air quality emergency in Mendenhall Valley Sunday morning

The poor air quality was caused by an air inversion, trapping pollutants at lower elevations.

CBJ sign reads “Woodstove burn ban in effect.” (City and Borough of Juneau photo)
A dusting of snow covers the Ptarmigan chairlift at Eaglecrest Ski Area in December 2024. (Eaglecrest Ski Area photo)

Update: Waterline break forces closure at Eaglecrest Friday, Saturday

The break is the latest hurdle in a challenging opening for Juneau’s city-run ski area this season.

A dusting of snow covers the Ptarmigan chairlift at Eaglecrest Ski Area in December 2024. (Eaglecrest Ski Area photo)
A buck enters the view of an Alaska Department of Fish and Game trail camera on Douglas island in November 2020. (Alaska Department of Fish and Game courtesy photo)

Douglas deer: The island’s hunt faces calls for new rules

Board of Game is seeking public comment on regulation changes that would affect Juneau.

A buck enters the view of an Alaska Department of Fish and Game trail camera on Douglas island in November 2020. (Alaska Department of Fish and Game courtesy photo)
Patrick Sullivan stands by an acid seep on July 15,2023. Sullivan is part of a team of scientists who tested water quality in Kobuk Valley National Park’s Salmon River and its tributaries, where permafrost thaw has caused acid rock drainage. The process is releasing metals that have turned the waters a rusty color. A chapter in the 2025 Arctic Report Card described “rusting rivers” phenomenon. (Photo by Roman Dial/Alaska Pacific University)

Ecosystem shifts, glacial flooding and ‘rusting rivers’ among Alaska impacts in Arctic report

NOAA’s 2025 report comes despite Trump administration cuts to climate science research and projects

  • Dec 19, 2025
  • By Yereth Rosen Alaska Beacon
Patrick Sullivan stands by an acid seep on July 15,2023. Sullivan is part of a team of scientists who tested water quality in Kobuk Valley National Park’s Salmon River and its tributaries, where permafrost thaw has caused acid rock drainage. The process is releasing metals that have turned the waters a rusty color. A chapter in the 2025 Arctic Report Card described “rusting rivers” phenomenon. (Photo by Roman Dial/Alaska Pacific University)
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Moderate US House Republicans join Dems to force vote on extension of health care subsidies

WASHINGTON — Republican leaders in the U.S. House will face a floor vote in early 2026 on Democrats’ plan to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act… Continue reading

  • Dec 19, 2025
  • Jennifer Shutt & Shauneen Miranda States Newsroom
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
The National Weather Service Juneau issues a high wind warning forDowntown Juneau, Southern Douglas Island and Thane due to increased confidence for Taku Winds this afternoon. (National Weather Service screenshot)

Taku winds and dangerous chills forecast for Juneau

Gusts up to 60 mph and wind chills near minus 15 expected through the weekend.

The National Weather Service Juneau issues a high wind warning forDowntown Juneau, Southern Douglas Island and Thane due to increased confidence for Taku Winds this afternoon. (National Weather Service screenshot)
Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire
Fallen trees are pictured by the Mendenhall river on Aug. 15, 2025. Water levels rose by a record-breaking 16.65 feet on the morning of Aug. 13 during a glacial outburst flood.

Lake tap chosen as long-term fix for glacial outburst floods

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Juneau leaders agreed on the plan.

Chloe Anderson for the Juneau Empire
Fallen trees are pictured by the Mendenhall river on Aug. 15, 2025. Water levels rose by a record-breaking 16.65 feet on the morning of Aug. 13 during a glacial outburst flood.
Gift card displays, such as this one in a CVS in Harlem, N.Y., have been a source of concerns for lawmakers hoping to combat gift card fraud. “Card draining,” or stealing numbers from poorly packaged cards, is one of the costliest and most common consumer scams, and states are trying to combat it with consumer alerts, arrests and warning signs on store displays. (Photo by Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)

Alaskans targeted by scammers posing as government officials, FBI warns

The FBI reports Alaskans lost over $26.2 million to internet-based scams in 2024, with $1.3 million of those losses due to government impersonation scams

  • Dec 18, 2025
  • Corrinne Smith Alaska Beacon
Gift card displays, such as this one in a CVS in Harlem, N.Y., have been a source of concerns for lawmakers hoping to combat gift card fraud. “Card draining,” or stealing numbers from poorly packaged cards, is one of the costliest and most common consumer scams, and states are trying to combat it with consumer alerts, arrests and warning signs on store displays. (Photo by Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)
A cat says hello at Juneau Animal Rescue in February 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)

New animal shelter site approved by Juneau Assembly

Juneau Animal Rescue secures eight-acre lease, but fundraising remains.

A cat says hello at Juneau Animal Rescue in February 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
The trans-Alaska pipeline, seen on Oct. 8, 2008, threads over snow-covered terrain in the Brook Range foothills. A gryfalcon is perched on one of the pipeline’s thermosphyons in the lower center of the photo. (Photo by Craig McCaa/U.S. Bureau of Land Management)

Alaska revenue forecast predicts more oil, but its importance to the state budget is declining

The Permanent Fund, not oil, is Alaska’s No. 1 source of general-purpose money and has been for years

  • Dec 15, 2025
  • By James Brooks Alaska Beacon
The trans-Alaska pipeline, seen on Oct. 8, 2008, threads over snow-covered terrain in the Brook Range foothills. A gryfalcon is perched on one of the pipeline’s thermosphyons in the lower center of the photo. (Photo by Craig McCaa/U.S. Bureau of Land Management)
Eaglecrest Ski Area photo 
Eaglecrest Ski Area as seen in a photo posted to the hill’s Facebook page on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2025.

Eaglecrest boots up for a limited opening this weekend

15 degree highs usher in the hill’s 50th season.

Eaglecrest Ski Area photo 
Eaglecrest Ski Area as seen in a photo posted to the hill’s Facebook page on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2025.
A mound of a snow obscures a “student drop off” sign near Sít’ Eetí Shaanàx-Glacier Valley School. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)

Juneau schools closed, city facilities delayed Monday due to weather

NWS released a weather warning in effect through the evening.

A mound of a snow obscures a “student drop off” sign near Sít’ Eetí Shaanàx-Glacier Valley School. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)
The emergency cold-weather warming shelter is seen in Thane on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)

Man charged for alleged rape at warming shelter

Staff have increased the frequency of safety rounds, and are discussing potential policy changes.

The emergency cold-weather warming shelter is seen in Thane on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon 
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference in Juneau on Thursday, April 27, 2023. To his side is a screen displaying significant budget deficits and exhausted savings accounts if oil prices perform as expected.

Disasters, dividends and deficit: Alaska governor unveils first-draft state budget

In his final year, Gov. Dunleavy again proposes to spend from savings in order to pay a larger Permanent Fund dividend

Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon 
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference in Juneau on Thursday, April 27, 2023. To his side is a screen displaying significant budget deficits and exhausted savings accounts if oil prices perform as expected.
SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is one of the primary health care providers in Juneau, accepting most major public and private insurance plans. (Mari Kanagy / Juneau Empire)

Marketplace health premiums set to rise in 2026

Here’s what you need to know about how coverage is changing, and for whom.

SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is one of the primary health care providers in Juneau, accepting most major public and private insurance plans. (Mari Kanagy / Juneau Empire)