Flood — S. Slopes of Ern Brooks Range, Alaska

2023-06-10 · near Wiseman, S. Slopes of Ern Brooks Range, Alaska

Event narrative

Water levels rose rapidly on the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River on Friday June 9th and went overbank and caused minor flooding by Saturday morning June 10th. At Wiseman, residents reported approximately 3 inches of water over the lower part of the access road into Wiseman. The high water caused bank erosion and some erosion on the Wiseman Road surface. High groundwater levels also caused flooding of the crawl space in at least one home in Wiseman along Wiseman Creek.

Wider weather episode

A weather front brought high freezing levels and heavy rain to the Brooks Range. The combination of rainfall and snowmelt runoff from a late winter snowpack resulted in minor flooding along the Koyukuk River and tributaries draining the Brooks Range. Rainfall totals ranged from 1 to 2 inches between June 8th to the 10th, with the bulk of the rain falling in less than 24 hours.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (67.4195, -150.1078)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1120043. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.