Jan. 24—It may be January, but the unusually warm, rainy weather feels more like spring breakup, and it's bringing the kind of flooding concerns also usually not seen in the Anchorage area until later in the year.

The National Weather Service is calling for a "series of atmospheric rivers" to descend on Southcentral over the weekend.

The weather service issued a flood watch Friday through Monday morning warning of potential flooding across a broad swath of the region due to high temperatures, widespread rain and elevated snow levels.

The agency also warned of possible power outages due to strong winds forecast for Anchorage and the Matanuska Valley that have the potential to bring down trees already weakened by a major windstorm last week.

The agency said it was possible 1 to 2.5 inches of rain could fall in Anchorage, the Matanuska Valley and western Kenai Peninsula through Sunday, with more at higher elevations. Two to 5 inches are expected in the Susitna Valley, with 2 to 6 inches of rain expected for the eastern Kenai as well as Prince William Sound.

"Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations," the watch said. "Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas."

The weather service recommended keeping storm drains clear of debris and monitoring forecasts for additional warnings.

Slightly lower temperatures in the Susitna Valley are expected to generate heavy snow, especially north of Talkeetna, according to a winter weather advisory in effect until 6 a.m. Friday.

As of this week, the average temperature for the month in Anchorage so far was 27.5 F, making it the fifth-warmest January on record. The depth of the city's snowpack as measured near Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport has steadily declined from 8 inches at the end of December to 3 inches this week.

[Hey, New Orleans, please send some of your snow to Anchorage]

Slick roads were reported in some areas around Anchorage, Mat-Su and the Interior on Thursday morning.

A crash involving a U.S. Army vehicle in a military caravan closed the Richardson Highway about 65 miles south of Fairbanks before 5 a.m. Thursday. No one was injured in the crash, according to the Alaska State Troopers and the 11th Airborne Division. The vehicle was blocking the roadway and required towing, troopers said.

An 11th Airborne Division vehicle towing a trailer was involved in the single-vehicle accident, according to an update from 11th Airborne Division spokesman John Pennell.

The vehicle was one of about a dozen in a convoy that was part of a military exercise and traveling between Fort Wainwright and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and the Donnelly Training Area near Delta Junction, Pennell said.

Although initially reported as a rollover, the trailer tipped over but didn't fully roll, according to the update. The trailer carried a tank rack module, part of a fueling system, that developed a slow leak when the trailer tipped, it said.

An environmental team from Fort Wainwright responded to handle the leak and military vehicles were dispatched to conduct recovery operations which caused a temporary blockage of the highway, the update said.

The road had reopened by late morning Thursday.

State transportation officials also announced Thursday that Hatcher Pass Road is closed at Mile 14, the Gold Mint trailhead parking lot, "as a preventative measure for the potential for a natural avalanche to impact the open road."

The closure was expected to last at least through the weekend, officials said. They recommended travelers check the road's status on the Alaska 511 road conditions site.