Lightning strikes were reported in the Chugach, Talkeetna and Kenai mountains as storms passed through Sunday evening.
Published: 5 minutes agoPALMER — Several wildfires started Sunday evening in Mat-Su and on the Kenai Peninsula, ignited by lightning associated with a series of powerful thunderstorms that moved through the area.
Large thunderheads could be seen rising over the Chugach and Talkeetna mountains on Sunday afternoon. The National Weather Service issued a warning of strong thunderstorms capable of producing nickel-size hail, “brief heavy downpours” and frequent lightning before dissipating Sunday evening.Fire officials said they were monitoring a small, lightning-started fire west of Willow after several strikes were reported in the area.
Fire crews also halted a small fire on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge after multiple lightning strikes in the area, refuge officials said in a Facebook post Sunday. Denali National Park and Preserve officials on Saturday reported a lightning-caused fire burning north of the Alaska Range. By 4 p.m. Sunday, 100 active wildfires were burning in Alaska, including 19 new starts in a 24-hour period, many in Northwest Alaska, according to the Bureau of Land Management Fire Service. All told around the state, as of Monday morning 224 fires had burned more than 116,000 acres including about 47,000 acres in one fire alone: the
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