Flood — Susitna Valley, Alaska

2023-08-26 to 2023-08-27 · near Talkeetna, Susitna Valley, Alaska

Event narrative

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 flooding and areas of bank erosion in Talkeeta.

Wider weather episode

Widespread precipitation fell across the Talkeetna, Susitna, Yentna and Skwenta Basins in late August as a deep, upper-level low anchored itself over the Bering Sea, sending waves of precipitation through the area. The persistent moist pattern followed a prolonged period of wet conditions over the previous months, leading to high flows and flooding across the Susitna Basin and associated rivers in the basin over the course of the period.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (62.3300, -150.1000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1127620. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.