Flood — Copper River Basin, Alaska

2024-05-02 to 2024-05-08 · near Glennallen, Copper River Basin, Alaska

Event narrative

Warming temperatures caused dense snowpack above the town of Glennallen to rapidly melt sending a large volume of water into the town of Glennallen. A flood watch was issued as early as April 28, with the advisory covering the more severe flooding from the snowmelt. By May 2, the advisory was issued to address flooding specifically along Trooper Creek and Moose Creek. Water had flooded into the fire station (reports noted 10 inches of water in the VFD station) and surrounded the legislative office. Additionally, flooding had proven numerous local roads impassable with flooding noted across other low-lying areas across Glennallen. By May 6, flooding had expanded to close Snowshoe Drive which impacted transportation across the town. Floodwaters were threatening the close the Glenn Highway at Trooper Creek crossing, which were just contained by new culverts installed by the DOT just a day before. Colder temperatures slowed runoff on May 8 and allowed flood waters to drain across the area.

Wider weather episode

Above normal snowpack in the hills above Glennallen, AK rapidly melted causing widespread flooding in Glennallen, AK. Moose Creek and Trooper Creeks, small tributaries to the Copper River had rapid rises in Glennallen, flooding roads and infrastructure throughout the town.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (62.1200, -145.5500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1184537. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.