Flood in Alaska, June 26, 2014

Name: Flood in Alaska, June 26, 2014
Start: 2014-06-26T00:00
End: 2014-06-26T17:00
Location: Alaska

June 26, 2014 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 AFG wrote it up.

A weather system moved west over Denali National Park on the night of the 26th and morning of the 27th, dropping four and one quarter inches of rain over the western portion of the Park in a short amount of time, according to the Wonder Lake RAWS. Moose Creek and Eureka Creek, located about 5 miles west of Wonder Lake, both flooded on the morning of the 26th. Flood waters from Moose Creek moved into the Denali Wilderness Lodge property, reaching the buildings on the morning of the 29th. The guests and some staff of the Lodge, a total of 103 persons, were evacuated to Wonder Lake the evening of the 27th, where buses transported them to hotels near the park headquarters. elevation. Moose Creek crested around 0900AKST on the 27th. The nearby airstrip at Kantishna also flooded and remained under water until the evening of the 27th, when flights could be made to evacuate people. There were a few road washouts as well on the Denali Park Road from Wonder Lake to the Denali Wilderness Lodge. During the evening of the 27th, flood waters receded and the only damage to the Lodge was that outdoor propane tanks floated and their lines broke. Damage is estimated to cover repair of road washouts.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 25, 1:03 PM AKST, 10 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 25, 1:03 PM AKST, 10 hours 57 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
203 PM AKDT WED JUN 25 2014

.DISCUSSION...
AGREEMENT OVER INTERIOR ALASKA AMONG THE MODELS IS STILL NOT
INSPIRING. WE ASSUME THIS IS DUE MOSTLY TO THE FACT THAT EACH
MODEL RESOLVES AND TREATS THE NUMEROUS SHORT WAVES THAT MAKE UP
THE SYSTEM DIFFERENTLY. THERE ARE MORE COMMONALITIES BETWEEN THE
GFS AND ECMF...AND WE HAVE RELIED MOSTLY ON THOSE MODELS...GIVING
THE NAM LITTLE PLAY BEYOND THE FIRST 24 HOURS (OR FEWER). THE GFS
AND ECMF BOTH NOW HAVE THE LOW ALOFT NEAR YUKUTAT MOVING NORTH
NORTHWEST TO CENTER ROUGHLY BETWEEN FAIRBANKS AND EAGLE AT 4 PM
THURSDAY...AND BETWEEN BETTLES AND PRUDHOE BAY AT 4 PM FRIDAY.

IN THE SHORT TERM...WE HAVE ANOTHER SHORT WAVE PRESENTLY
APPROACHING DAWSON AND HEADED WEST. THIS ONE IS EXPECTED TO
GIVE ZONES 222-225 ANOTHER GOOD SHOT OF RAIN TONIGHT INTO
THURSDAY MORNING. THE STEADIER PRECIPITATION WILL BE CONFINED TO
THE CENTRAL INTERIOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON...AND WILL BE SHOWERY AND
MUCH LIGHTER ON THE WHOLE FROM ZONE 222 EAST. HOWEVER...STRATIFORM
PRECIPITATION IS NOW EXPECTED TO SPREAD BACK INTO ZONE 222 AND AT
LEAST WESTERN 223 THURSDAY NIGHT / FRIDAY MORNING AS THE LOW ALOFT
CONTINUES NORTH. EARLIER RUNS OF THE ECMF WERE SHOWING THIS...AND
THE 12Z GFS JUMPED ON BOARD...THOUGH IT IS SHOWING MORE TERRAIN
EFFECTS THAN THE ECMF (REASONABLY ENOUGH).

THE WEAK SURFACE RIDGE OVER THE CHUKCHI AND BEAUFORT SEAS WILL
CONTINUE GRADUALLY TO BUILD...AND THE TROUGH OVER THE INTERIOR
WILL CONTINUE TO DEEPEN. AN EXTENSION OF THIS TROUGH INTO ZONE
208 WILL BRING BRISK WINDS TO MARINE AREA 215 AND ADJACENT
ZONES. SIMILARLY...WE EXPECT BRISK WINDS TO DEVELOP IN MARINE
AREA 245 THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND SPREAD TO AREA 240 THURSDAY
NIGHT.

ARCTIC. EXTENSIVE STRATUS / FOG IS NOT EVIDENT UPSTREAM. WE
HAVE BACKED OFF ON THE LANGUAGE.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
WETTING RAINS OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR WILL LIKELY KEEP
MINIMUM RH ABOVE 40 THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK. DRIER OVER
THE WEST COAST AND WESTERN INTERIOR...BUT MINIMUM RH WILL LIKELY
BE IN THE 30S...AND 25 MPH WINDS ONLY LOCALLY IN COASTAL AREAS.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...
SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORIES FOR ZONES 225 AND 226. FLOOD
WATCHES FOR ZONES 222-224 LIKELY TO BE UPGRADED LATER THIS
AFTERNOON OR EVENING. SOME GROUND WATER PROBLEMS NEAR THE
TANANA RIVER LIKELY FRIDAY.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FLOOD WATCH FOR AKZ222-AKZ223-AKZ224.
&&

DJH JUN 14

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 25, 7:38 PM AKST, 4 hours 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
838 PM AKDT WED JUN 25 2014

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0700 PM     HEAVY RAIN       8 WNW ESTER             64.92N 148.27W
06/25/2014  M0.56 INCH                          AK   CO-OP OBSERVER

            KEYSTONE RIDGE COOP - NEAR MURPHY DOME. 24 HOUR TOTAL
            THROUGH 7PM WED JUNE 25TH

0700 PM     HEAVY RAIN       3 NW NORTH POLE         64.78N 147.43W
06/25/2014  M0.71 INCH                          AK   NWS EMPLOYEE

            NWS EMPLOYEE AT BADGER AND REPP RD. 24 HOUR TOTAL THROUGH
            7PM WED JUN 25.

0811 PM     HEAVY RAIN       2 N NORTH POLE          64.78N 147.37W
06/25/2014  M0.75 INCH                          AK   TRAINED SPOTTER

            SPOTTER LOCATED W 7TH AVE NORTH POLE. 24 HOUR TOTAL
            THROUGH 7PM WED JUNE 25TH.

&&

EPLUMB

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Denali

When: June 26, 12:00 AM AKST to 5:00 PM AKST
Where: Denali County, 2.48 mi NW of Kantishna to 2.35 mi E of Kantishna
Cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: Park/Forest Service
Coordinates: 63.547, -151.002

What these are

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

Every storm in Alaska in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, June 2014

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: 536216.