Flood — Middle Tanana Valley, Alaska

2014-07-02 to 2014-07-04 · near North Pole, Middle Tanana Valley, Alaska

Event narrative

This event is for the Little Chena River.

Wider weather episode

A weather system moving west over the area brought 2 to 3 inches of rain across the Chena River Basin on the 1st through the 2nd.

The Little Chena River at the Chena Hot springs Road bridge crested at 26.6 feet at 2100AKST on the 2nd. That is the second highest crest recorded on the Little Chena river and the highest water level there since the 1967 flood. It was reported that three homes became surrounded by water near where the river flows under Chena Hot Springs Road.

The Upper Chena gage at Mile 40 Chena Hot Springs Rd recorded a crest of 21.1 feet around 1400AKST on the 2nd. The Hunts Fork gage crested at 18.4 feet around 0500AKST on the 3rd. At 36.9 mile Chena Hot Springs Road the maximum depth of water on the road at the center line was 8 inches. Most vehicles passed through the water. The parking lot at Granite Tors, the Stiles Creek shooting range, and much of the low lying areas along Chena Hot Springs Rd in the Recreation area were flooded. There was minor flooding and erosion at the Rosehip Campground but no campsites flooded. The Steve Savage Trail in Two Rivers near 25 mile Chena Hot Springs Rd was inundated with a couple feet of water. A resident reported many driveways partially flooded but no houses. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operated the Moose Creek Dam from 1400AKDT Wed July 2nd to 0200AKDT Monday July 7th in order to regulate the flow of the Chena River through the dam to 8,000 cfs. This is the 2nd time the flow of the Chena River has been regulated this summer.

The successive rainfalls since mid-June created longer lasting impacts to the greater Fairbanks area as the month progressed. Several sizable sinkholes developed, and groundwater levels rose and maintained high levels into August in both North Pole and Fairbanks...causing problems with septic systems and flooding of some basements and crawlspaces.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (64.8830, -147.2528)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 535220. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.