Avalanche, Haines Borough and Lynn Canal
- When
- February 3, 12:00 AM AST to February 10, 11:59 PM AST
- Where
- Haines Borough and Lynn Canal forecast zone
- Property damage
- $20,000
Avalanche and Flood in Alaska, February 3 to 10, 1996
followed by avalanches and then flooding. 9 inches on the city of Valdez.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS AFC wrote it up.
After 3 months of drought, snows finally came...followed by avalanches and then flooding. A record one week snow dumped 132.9 inches on the city of Valdez. Next, avalanches cut off the Richardson Highway for most of the weekend while another avalanche swept over a local home. When temperatures soared into the upper 30s Saturday, city streets began to flood. The Public Works Department spent $30,000.00 in overtime during this week - about half the total overtime budget for the season.
Event by event
1 avalanche, 1 drought, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Drought, Haines Borough and Lynn Canal
- When
- February 3, 12:00 AM AST to February 10, 11:59 PM AST
- Where
- Haines Borough and Lynn Canal forecast zone
Flood, Haines Borough and Lynn Canal
- When
- February 3, 12:00 AM AST to February 10, 11:59 PM AST
- Where
- Haines Borough and Lynn Canal forecast zone
- Property damage
- $30,000
What these are
- Avalanche
- A mass of snow sliding down a mountainside that caused a death, an injury or damage.
- Drought
- A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Cold in Virginia, February 3 to 6, 1996
- Ice Storm in Louisiana, February 3, 1996
- Cold in South Carolina, February 3 to 5, 1996
- Ice Storm in Oregon, February 3 to 5, 1996
- Cold in Texas, February 3 to 4, 1996
- Cold in Georgia, February 3 to 5, 1996
- Cold in North Carolina, February 3 to 6, 1996
- Cold in Alabama, February 3 to 5, 1996
- Ice Storm in Louisiana, February 3, 1996
- Flood in California, February 3 to 5, 1996
- Cold in Georgia, February 3 to 5, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New York, February 3, 1996
More
Every storm in Alaska in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5541029, 5724914, 5724915.