Susitna Valley storm history

The Susitna River at Sunshine crested at 27.66ft on 9/21/12 at 23:00 AKDT. Damages in the Susitna Valley were extensive, with several railroad bridges and smaller roads flooded and washed out. Most of the homes destroyed and damaged were in the Susitna Valley. on 9/24/12 a 51 yea…

Dwayne Dufford, 30, was snowmachining with severalfriends Monday. He was buried by an avalanche sometime duringthe afternoon...exact details are currently unavailable. He waslocated via an avalanche beacon within 18 minutes of theavalanche, but had already succumbed to his injuri…

Avalanche fatality occurred Saturday, 9 December 2000 between 1:30 pm and 2:00 pm. The put-in was in an area north of Dunkle Mine, around milepost 196 on the Parks Highway. The accident site was about 16 miles in from the road, just inside the park boundary.The victim (James Thom…

Avalanche on Snow Shoe Peak (20 miles southeast of Talkeetna) pushed a skier and a snowboarder over a cliff. Both fell 200 feet. The snowboarder was injured, treated and released from the hospital. The skier was killed. The skier was telemarking and was participating in a wildern…

Kenneth Hayes, 44, of Healy, Alaska was killed by an avalanche Friday afternoon. His body was recovered at about 10:30 am Saturday in the debris. Hayes was among 12 snowmachiners riding the "Big Notch in the Mountains" at Jack River Canyon, about 12 miles south of Cantwell, when …

Above normal temperatures combined with above normal high elevation snowpack caused this flooding event. A local lodge reported 6-7 inches of water in one of their guest cabins. The Yentna River at Lake Creek (YLKA2) crested at 21.82 feet on 7/1/2019. Moderate flood stage is 22 f…

Above normal temperatures combined with above normal high elevation snowpack caused this flooding event. The Yentna River at Lake Creek (YLKA2) crested at 21.82 feet on 7/1/2019. Moderate flood stage is 22 ft, minor flood stage is 20.5 ft. Many lodges were surrounded by water and…

Workers with the Alaska Railroad Corporation discovered a 5 mile section of track flooded and covered with chunks of ice after an ice jam caused a 8-10 ft vertical water level rise between Talkeetna and Curry, on the Susitna River. Significant sections of track were damaged and m…

The flood gauge near Talkeetna at the confluence of the Talkeetna River and Susitna River rose into flood stage around 12 PM AKST August 29th, crested just below major flood stage at 14.93 ft around 11 PM AKST August 29th, then receded back to below minor flood stage by 12 PM AKS…

On August 31st, a resident of Petersville reported that the road along Cache Creek had been totally washed out in several places due to flooding along the creek itself, and the washouts had cut off residents from the main road network for several days. The resident also mentioned…

The Yentna River at Lake Creek entered flood stage on the afternoon of August 28th, then rose to a record crest around 22.56 feet in moderate flood stage by August 29th. River levels remained near the record crest through the morning of August 31st, then began dropping back below…

The Cantwell Department of Transportation camp reported quarter mile visibility, high winds, drifting snow, and blizzard conditions on January 29th. The Alaska Department of Transportation site reported Very Difficult driving conditions for Broad Pass on January 29th.

The Talkeetna ASOS Station (PATK) reported light rain at 34F at 11:10 PM AKST. A CoCoRAHS observer/spotter along Oil Well Road southwest of Trapper Creek reported overflow and standing water on trails that made travel hazardous in the backcountry. Another CoCoRAHS observer near T…

The Talkeetna ASOS (PATK) reported freezing rain between 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM AKST on December 5th. Road conditions along the Parks Highway according to Alaska 511 was very difficult from Susitna North to Talkeetna and south of Cantwell. Hazardous road conditions were reported sou…

Heavy rain from an atmospheric river led to rapid rises on the Yentna and Skwenta Rivers in the western portion of the Susitna Borough. Rivers inundated cabins all along the rivers with water widespread flooding of the campgrounds, airstrips and access to structures.

New snowfall of 10.5 inches was reported at Trapper Creek, AK.

Precipitation began as snow on November 22, but as temperatures warmed aloft with persistent southerly flow, freezing rain began to mix in with snow at times on November 23. Reports from the MAWS in Skwentna, as well as the ASOS in Talkeetna, indicated periods of light freezing r…

A spotter in Amber Lake reported 12.1 inches in 24 hours at 7:20 PM AKST 11/15. Snow continued well into the 15th and early 16th, with a storm total as high as 18 inches reported by the Alaska Department of Transportation along portions of the Parks Highway near Broad Pass on the…

Snowfall at Big Lake was measured at 9.0 inches. A later observation would bring the storm total to 11.5 inches by 10:57am on 11/13/23.

Freezing rain was observed in Houston, AK with commuters from Eagle River, AK into the Susitna Valley reporting difficult and icy road conditions.

Heavy rains of 1-2 inches in 24 hours caused widespread minor flooding across the Talkeetna and Little Susitna Basins. Minor flooding was recorded at several river gauges and long periods of elevated river levels, exacerbated river bank erosion in the areas around Talkeetna.

One to three inches of heavy rainfall flooded low lying areas of the Susitna Valley, including the main road that crossed Kroto and Moose Creeks. This road closure limited resident access to their homes.

Flood waters encroached on cabins along the Yentna and Skwentna Rivers. 2-4 inches of rain fell within the basin causing river levels to swell, and inundating land areas alongside cabins on the river's edge of the Yentna and Skwentna Rivers.

Heavy rain across the Talkeetna Mountains caused rapid rises along the Talkeetna River. 1-3 inches of rainfall in the basin, with much higher rainfall amounts in the mountains and headwaters, kept rivers consistently high over a long period of time; this contributed to widespread…

Heavy rains of 2-4 inches in the Little Susitna Basin, along with much higher rainfall amounts along the mountain headwaters, caused rapid river rises along the Little Susitna River and its tributaries. High water impacted areas around the Enchanted Forest area of Houston and at …

The Alaska Department of Transportation reported 18 inches of new snowfall that had fallen overnight near milepost 121 of the Parks Highway (northwest of Talkeetna) on the morning of 4/12. A spotter in Amber Lake also reported 10.5 inches of new snowfall during the same time fram…

At 6 AM 1/24, Alaska Department of Transportation reported 14 inches of new snowfall along the Parks Highway between Mile Post 121 and 163 with difficult driving conditions. The heaviest snowfall amounts were all focused on the northern end of the Susitna Valley, with areas farth…

A third round of heavy snow occurred December 14 through 15 resulting in about a foot of snow across the southern portion of the Susitna Valley. This snowfall was produced as a tropical moisture plume spread northward and combined with an upper-level disturbance transitioning acr…

Heavy snow occurred on December 11 through 12 resulting in about a foot of snow across the southern portion of the Susitna Valley over a 24 hour period. Nearby observations include the Alexander Lake SNOTEL which recorded about 10 of snowfall measured, a CoCoRaHS which showed 7.0…

Talkeetna ASOS reported periods of light freezing rain during the afternoon of 11/20.

Heavy snowfall fell over the Susitna Valley from the evening of November 1st into November 2nd. Reports from public and spotters for storm total snowfall were up to a foot or more, including a report of 17 inches recorded near Skwentna, 12 inches in Yentna and 8.6 inches near Amb…

A period of light freezing rain mixed with snow was observed on the morning of October 15th. Webcams from Alaska 511 (Department of Transportation) showed a glaze of ice accumulated on some roadways across mainly the southern Susitna Valley.

Numerous roads and low lying properties were reported to be flooded Monday night and Tuesday downstream from the Parks Highway Bridge and were impacted by flood waters for about 24-36 hours.

Anchorage Daily News published a story about the flooding in Houston from heavy rain that fell over the Talkeetna Mountains August 8. Numerous roads were closed in the Houston, AK township and up to 20 properties were affected. Flooding in the town of Houston and surrounding road…

Hydrographs ands tabular data for Willow Creek showed action stage was exceeded by July 19 at 4pm, minor flood stage was exceeded by July 19 at 9pm, crest occurred on July 20 at 5am. Other creeks in 145 that exceeded action stage: Little Susitna River, Willow Creek near Willow, S…

Webcams around the Susitna Valley showed thunderstorms across the region. Also, the AICC lightning map showed multiple lightning strikes in the Susitna Valley. Temperatures across the area ranged from the upper 70s to low 80s with relative humidity's in the upper teens to low 20s…

Amber Lake reported 12 inches in 12 hrs. Alaska 511 reported up to 24 inches from Mile Post 115-163. Alaska 511 reported 10 to 14 inches of snow from mile post 163-210.

Chulitna River (PAEC) reported 10 inches of snow. CoCoRAHS 7.6 miles south of Talkeetna reported 3.8 inches of snow; 8.5 miles south-southwest of Trapper Creek reported 1.2 inches of snow.

Chulitna River Lodge had 9 inches of snow between 14-16th. Chulitna River (PAEC) had 5.0 inches from 3pm on the 14th to 3 pm on the 15th. Another 4.0 inches was reported from the 3 pm on the 15th to 3 pm on the 16th. Amber Lake (ABRA2) reported 4.2 inches new snow from 7 pm on th…

A trained spotter in Willow estimated around 14:30 on the 26th of December 1/16 inch to 1/8 inch on wind shields some time between 10:30AM - 1:00PM in town earlier that day. Spotter also reported intermittent freezing rain/snow and speculated that the precipitation type line was …

Reported observations of 19 inches at Eagle Song, 19 inches at Skwentna, 14 inches at Yentna, and 15.5 inches at Amber Lake.

Alaska DOT reported 4 to 6 inches of snowfall at Chulitna, AK. Further south at the Eagle Song Lodge, 25 mi SW of Willow, AK, a trained spotter reported 10 inches of new snow with snowfall rates exceeding 1 inch per hour. These snowfall reports occurred in November and December, …

Eagle Song Lodge, located 25 mi SW of Willow, AK, reported 18 inches of snow in 12 hours. This brought their seasonal snow total up to 62 inches before the end of November. Further to the north near Yentna, AK, there were anecdotal reports of over 2 feet of snowfall.

Trained spotters near Talkeetna and Petersville, AK reported 10-15 inches of snowfall from this event. Further south and Eagle Song Lodge 17 inches of snow was reported in a roughly 18 hour period.

Eaglesong Lodge reported 30 inches of snow in 24 hours, with a storm total of 46 inches. This was the greatest single event total in 26 years of records.