Flood — Juneau Borough, Alaska

2016-07-01 to 2016-07-02 · near Douglas, Juneau Borough, Alaska

Event narrative

In the afternoon of June 29th the Mendenhall Lake and River began to slowly rise as the glacier dammed lake in Suicide Basin about 2 miles from the terminus started to drain. Mendenhall Lake and River continue to rise for the next two days as the dammed lake emptied. The water levels reach minor flood stage of nine feet in the morning of July 1 and by the late evening around 8pm Mendenhall Lake crested at eleven point ninety nine feet. This crest broke the old record stage of eleven point eighty nine feet from 2014. After the lake and river crested the water level receded very quickly and was below minor flood stage by the mid morning on July 2. There was significant flooding around Mendenhall Lake and the upper portions of the river above Back Loop Road. The Mendenhall campground was evacuated due flooding of up to three feet at the entrance and within the campground. The West Glacier spur road and the area around Skaters Cabin was flooded with three feet water. View Drive was flooded with two feet of water and the road cut off. There was minor flood damage to some homes that border the river along the road. There was also more flooding along the dredge lakes trail area and and few other trails around the Mendenhall Glacier Vistitor Center run by the USDA Forest Service.

Wider weather episode

Throughout spring and the first part of the summer Suicide Basin, a side valley that is dammed by the Mendenhall Glacier, filled with water from snow melt and rainfall. In the morning hours of June 29th the gauge in the basin began to show signs of falling as the glacier dam was starting to fail. Through the next 24 hours a downward trend was evident and the event was starting. For the next 2 days the Mendenhall Lake and River rose just under seven feet and crested at a record level of 11.99 feet. This exceeded the previous record stage of 11.89 feet from 2014.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (58.3607, -134.5964)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 637792. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.