Flood — Copper River Basin, Alaska

2013-05-25 to 2013-05-31 · near Gulkana, Copper River Basin, Alaska

Event narrative

The Gulkana River at the Richardson Highway pushed up past flood levels the morning of May 25th and reached a crest on May 30th around midnight of 12.13 ft. Moderate flood level for this gauge is 10.5 ft. The river observer at Gulkana reported on May 25th: Ice run last night flooded parking area/boat launch area at bridge. Stranded some ice over bank. The river remained above flood stage into June.

Wider weather episode

Ice jams combined with warm temperatures accelerated snow melt in the Copper River basin in late May. This caused the Gulkana river to reach moderate flood stage at a number of locations along the river.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (62.2700, -145.3800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 456214. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.