Kenai Peninsula storm history

A snowmobiler was buried in an avalanche south of Cooper Landing, Alaska. Heavy snow and strong winds in the preceding days contributed to high avalanche danger.

Russel Foster, Anchorage, his girlfriend and fiveother snowmachiners were with a group riding in the ChugachNational Forest off Palmer Creek Road near the old Swetmann MineSunday.Sometime after 1 p.m., Foster, 35, headed up a slope abovethe rest of the riders, according to State …

An ice jam formed on the lower Anchor River on April 19, 2021. Originally the ice jam formed above the stream gage on the Old Sterling Highway and over the next few days the ice jam slowly moved downstream until it broke on April 24th. The area around the Old Sterling Highway flo…

Flooding in many yards and at least one cabin along Snug Harbor Road. The lake edge is normally about another 30 feet off the deck. NWS survey crews found flooded boat launches at both Cooper Landing Boat Launch and Quartz Creek Campground Boat Launch. The public also reported fl…

The Kenai River at Skilak crested at 15.56ft on 9/26/12 at 15:15 AKDT; the Kenai River at Soldotna crested at 12.53ft on 9/26/12 at 13:15 AKDT.

Rain began to fall across the Kenai Peninsula October 22nd. The rain continued to fall at moderate to heavy rates through the 24th of October. The storm that produced this heavy rainfall was a 975 mb low that moved to the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula then to the Pribilof …

Heavy rain in the Anchor River basin brought river levels up quickly and flooded many areas along the river between Anchor Point and Homer. The Blackwater Bend area reported water over the Sterling Highway. Additional severe flooding was reported on Anchor Point Road near the Old…

A public report from IRIS measured 15 inches of snow at Fritz Creek on the Homer Bluffs. Additionally, 12 inches of snow was reported at Diamond Ridge on the Bluffs via social media.

Warm weather caused the breakup of ice on the Anchor River near Anchor Point. Initially river rises were reported on the portion of the Anchor River between the Sterling Highway Bridge and the Old Sterling Highway bridge, as ice moved downstream. Ice eventually became entrenched …

A SNOTEL located in McNeil Canyon Reported 17 inches of snow in 24 hours (12/12 4:00 AM AKST to 12/13 4:00 AM AKST). On the evening of the 12th, A NOAA Oceanographer in Homer reported that a foot of snow had fallen in McNeil Canyon by 10 AM on the 13th and 10 inches of snow had f…

Warm temperatures caused snowmelt to raise river levels and dislodged ice cover on the Anchor River, from the Old Sterling Highway downstream to near Anchor Point. Ice jammed at several locations along the river and caused flooding of parklands along the Anchor River and flooded …

Warm temperatures caused snowmelt to raise river levels and dislodged ice cover on the Anchor River, from the Old Sterling Highway downstream to near Anchor Point. Ice jammed at several locations along the river and caused flooding of parklands along the Anchor River and flooded …

The Gulf of Alaska low, centered south of Prince William Sound, was on a southeasterly track Saturday, November 16, 2024. With this low in place, a strong down (Cook) Inlet flow kept the morning's strongest winds focused outside of central Kachemak Bay and well south of the Homer…

A Gulf of Alaska low, centered south of Prince William Sound, was on a southeasterly track over the course of the November 16-17, 2024 period. With this low in place, a strong down (Cook) Inlet flow kept each day's strongest winds focused south of the Kenai Peninsula. However, du…

A social media post reported a storm total measurement of 16 inches in Ninilchik between 9 AM AKST 11/3 and 1 PM AKST 11/4/24. Several other snowfall reports of 5 to 12 inches were noted across the Homer Bluffs and along the Sterling Highway between Homer and Ninilchik between 11…

Heavy rain caused widespread lowland flooding and large amounts of riverine erosion across Seward, AK and the surrounding areas. Several streams in the region were moving large amounts of sediment and Seward officials were in an ongoing flood flight to keep area culverts clear of…

A public report of 9 inches total snowfall was received shortly before 5 PM AKST 2/4 near Nikiski. Numerous other reports ranging from 6 to 9 inches of new snowfall were received across the rest of the western Kenai Peninsula between 2/3 and 2/4.

Homer Police department around 1:15PM Dec. 10th. They said once you get past Anchor Point, the wind blows about 30 mph between Anchor Point into Homer. They said there are Whiteout conditions and snowing pretty good in Homer right now. The same was described for the Homer Bluffs …

Alaska DOT reported black ice along the Sterling Highway from the Seward Highway to Kasilof on the evening of November 22, with light, infrequent precipitation across the western Kenai Peninsula. On the morning of November 23, an upper-level trough lifting north across the area b…

A spotter reported 5 inches of snowfall in the span of only a few hours near Soldotna on the morning of 11/17. Near whiteout conditions also occurred between Soldotna and Kenai, with the Kenai ASOS reporting as low as 1/4 mile visibility with snow and winds gusting over 30 mph as…

DOT reported up to 2 feet of new snowfall accumulation along the northern end of the Sterling Highway.

Gusty north winds knocked down trees and caused power outages with winds gusting to 40 mph along with falling/blowing snow between 11 PM 11/7 through 3AM 11/8. Power outages would continue to affect residents of the area through 11/9/2023.

Observations of Snow Glacier indicated that a Glacial Dammed Lake (GDL) released on or around the 9/7/23 to 9/8/23. The Snow and Kenai Rivers rose rapidly in response, routing flood waters through the system from the GDL. The Snow River reached action stage, however as the flood …

Skilak Glacier Dammed Lake released, combining with flow coming through Skilak Lake, impacting the region below Skilak Lake and Soldotna. Widespread flooding was reported at Kenai Keys and along the Kenai River, especially below Skilak Lake where flood levels reached moderate sev…

The Homer ASOS recorded quarter mile visibility and heavy snowfall at 16:29 March 18. The Kenai ASOS, recorded snow and gusts to 41 kts.

Snow began during the morning hours of February 28 based on surface observing stations in Kenai and Soldotna. The heaviest snow ended that afternoon, but light snow continued off and on through March 1. Soldotna Police estimated 8 to 12 inches of low density snow fell, with local…

Snow began during the morning hours of February 28 based on surface observing stations in Kenai and Soldotna. The heaviest snow ended that afternoon, but light snow continued off and on through March 1. Soldotna Police estimated 8 to 12 inches of low density snow fell, with local…

The Soldotna AWOS reported a mix of freezing rain and snow for a few hours during the afternoon of 1/29. Little to no ice accumulation occurred based on reports available.

Alaska 511 reported freezing rain on the Sterling Highway.

Spotter report of a measured 24 inches of new snow within a 24 hour period were received from Soldotna; the snow feel between the 11th and 12th.

Public report of an estimated 6 inches of snow was received from Soldotna between about 2 and 5 PM AKST 12/6/22. As much as 9 inches of snow fell across portions of the western Kenai Peninsula between 12/6 and 12/7, mainly focused across higher elevations near the Kenai Mountains…

A mix of freezing rain and snow was reported at the PAEN ASOS near midday 11/20.

Precipitation began to fall across the western Kenai Peninsula on the morning of October 25th. The heaviest period of snowfall occurred during the afternoon and evening of the 25th through midnight, as indicated by ASOS reports from Kenai and Soldotna. Snow continued into the mor…

Snow Glacial Dam releases caused minor flooding along the Snow and Kenai Rivers from near Seward to Skilak Lake. Water levels reached minor flood levels with reports of high water closing down boat access, reaching into yards, and encroaching on garages along the rivers.

River gage on the Kenai River remained in action stage for over a week due to the persistent rainfall from day to day. Low lying areas of a campground nearby reported higher than usual water levels during the timeframe of the 18th-27th but only minor flooding reported.

Kenai Tower reported 4 inches. Kenai reported short periods of rain with mostly snow; Soldotna reported several reports of unknown precipitation as well.

Kenai ASOS reported light freezing rain and trace of ice accumulation at the 8:53 pm ob on the 17th.

Kenai reported light freezing rain and a trace of ice.

Reports of minimal visibility and drifting snow on social media. Kenai ASOS recorded visibility at three quarter mile with periods of one half to one quarter mile on Feb 3 between 10:00 AM to 2:57 PM. Winds were 24mph or greater, with gusts up to 38 mph.

South Peninsula Road Traffic Report page on Facebook had multiple reports of bad driving conditions on the Sterling highway. Kenai ASOS also reported one quarter mile visibility and heavy snow plus freezing fog for multiple hours along with 20 knot winds leading to blowing and dr…

RWIS cameras at Anchor Point and Kenai Municipal Airport showed very low visibility across the western half of the sky. Most of the lower visibilities were reported along the coast. Homer Airport reported lowest visibilities at one quarter mile. Homer ASOS reported one half mile …

Kenai reported 32 degrees & light rain from 11:50AM - 1PM on the 21st of January as well as a trace of freezing rain. Soldotna reported similar to Kenai with 32 degrees & unknown precipitation with trace of amounts accumulated at 11:56AM on the 21st.

Issued due to a report from an NWS Employee of freezing rain in Kenai. They also said roads were bad, rain was full droplets, and 22 degree air temp. A spotter called the office and reported solid rain from Kenai to Soldotna to Sterling at approximately 4:35PM on the 28th of Dece…

As the storm system began to pull away, residual moisture on the back side resulted in some light frozen precipitation in and around the Homer on the 22nd of December. The Homer ASOS reported freezing rain mixed with snow during the afternoon resulting in a trace of ice accumulat…

Multiple reports came in across social media platforms. Most of them mentioned sleet and freezing rain occurring throughout the day on December 19th continuing into the 20th along the Sterling Highway from Kenai/Soldotna south to the Anchor Point area on the western Kenai Peninsu…

Dennis Anderson (Homer, 12/9 7:15PM) estimated 6-8 in of wet/heavy snow with a foot in some places due to drifting & occasional whiteout conditions. Greg Arnold (Homer, 12/9 7:15PM) reported intermittent wet snow with an estimate of about 6 inches since the day before. Many repor…

Lower Kachemak Creek SNOTEL recorded 17.6 inches and the McNeil Canyon SNOTEL recorded 9.2 inches. A trained spotter reported 13 of new snow overnight the 6th around 12 PM.

Spotter in Homer reported approximately 8 inches of new snow.