Flood — Juneau Borough, Alaska

2014-07-16 · near Juneau, Juneau Borough, Alaska

Event narrative

A weather front moved across the north central inner channels on July 14 and produced about one half to three quarters of an inch of rainfall. The Taku River began to rise from the rain runoff but instead of dropping off once the rain let up the river rose significantly. At the same time the water temperature started to drop significantly. All of these variables pointed towards a release from Lake No Lake glacier dammed lake along the Tulsequah Glacier. For the next thirty hours the Taku River rose significantly as the water from Lake No Lake drained into the river system. The Taku River crested at forty-four point zero two feet which was just above moderate flood stage at 1:30pm on July 16. At this stage there will be water at the door jam of the house near the USGS gauge along with water inundating other cabins along the river.

Wider weather episode

Lake No Lake a glacier dammed lake along the Tulsequah Glacier released on July 16 2014. The pent up water flowed into the Tulsequah River and flooded the Taku River downstream. There was a moderate rain event of about one half of an inch just before the release which might have triggered the glacier dam release.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (58.4887, -133.9151)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 539790. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.