The United States ended an historically deadly month for avalanches with an apparent near-miss in Alaska's capital city.
Officials in Juneau braced for "historic avalanches" this weekend as the city's urban avalanche forecast reached "extreme" danger, leading to evacuations of some residents in a particularly danger-prone area on Saturday night.
Bu Sunday, however, City Emergency Programs Manager Tom Mattice offered a measure of reassuring news in the day's advisory report.
"Although natural avalanches are still likely I think we may have dodged a bullet for the time being on the big one," he said. On Saturday, however, Mattice was worried, predicting that any avalanches would be "of great size" and issuing an extreme avalanche warning for the first time, KTOO-FM reported. It was also the first time since 2008 that the city recommended that residents in the Behrends Avenue neighborhood evacuate their homes due to the avalanche danger, according to KTOO.