Flood — Taiya Inlet, Alaska

2016-07-28 to 2016-07-29 · near Skagway, Taiya Inlet, Alaska

Event narrative

Five days after a very wet weather system moved over the northern inner channels another moist front moved over the area. The weather system moved over the northern inner channels of Southeast Alaska on July 28th. Rain amounts ranged from three quarters of an inches near sea level with amounts as high as two inches in the headwaters of the Taiya River. There was very warm temperatures associated with the front which created high freezing levels and increase runoff from snow or ice melt. Rain moved over the area on July 27th and the Taiya River started to rise in the afternoon. The river continue to rise steadily for the next eighteen hours and went above minor flood stage of sixteen point five feet in the early morning of the 28th and six hours later went above moderate flood stage of seventeen. The river finally crested at seventeen point fifty-three feet in the late morning on the 27th. The Taiya River slowly receded through the next eighteen hours and was below minor flood stage by the early morning of July 29th. The National Park Service reported that there was significant flooding along the Chilkoot trail with waist deep water at the lower portions of the trail and closed the trail for a period of time due to safety concerns.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system moved out of the North Pacific and drifted into the Northwest Gulf of Alaska by July 27. The low pressure remained there and weakened through the next few days. The associated weather front moved over the Eastern Gulf of Alaska on the 28th and then over the panhandle and into Western Canada by the 29th. This weather front tapped into some sub-tropical moisture and moved that moisture over an already moist Southeast Alaska. Over a 2 day period the northern inner channels received two to five inches of rainfall. Also there was very high freezing levels that increased runoff from snow and ice melt. This front affected the area right after another very moist weather front was exiting the area and the soils were very saturated before the heavy to moderate rain began to fall. The wet antecedent conditions along with the runoff from the rainfall produced moderate flooding along the Chilkoot trail, part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, near Dyea. The river crested around seventeen point fifty three feet which is above moderate flood stage of seventeen feet in the late morning on July 28.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (59.4796, -135.3426)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 640198. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.