Juneau officials, local agencies provide update after Suicide Basin outburst

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, August 12, 2026

A flood warning is now in effect for the Mendenhall Lake and River after a glacial outburst occurred at Suicide Basin.

The City and Borough of Juneau provided an update Wednesday morning, alongside representatives from the National Weather Service (NWS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, United States Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska, and Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) and other agency partners.

NWS issued the flood warning on Tuesday afternoon, and is expecting a crest between 16.1 and 16.6 feet between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. Thursday. Minor flood stage begins at 9 feet.

“We are seeing a steady rate of rise, and the basin is dropping rapidly — it dropped about 25 feet,” said Nicole Ferrin, NWS warning coordination meteorologist. “We expect dangerous flood stage later overnight after midnight, and that will last for approximately an eight-hour period.”

Ferrin added that the NWS office would coordinate with the unified command and issue a flash flood warning, which would automatically be sent to phones located in the evacuation area.

A similar update with local partners was held yesterday as well, and while one of the main messages was more about complacency and the dangers of water, DOT&PF safety officer Ken Murphy said he wanted to slow things down with today’s message.

“I got you all amped up,” he said. “Today, my message is different — slow is fast, slow down, and take your time.”

Murphy said that those who are evacuating should take extra time to breathe and make sure that they have everything they need.

“If you have somebody else that you’re dealing with, are responsible for, make them slow down, too,” he added. “We’re going to do this together — I know we’re prepared for this.”

Over the next 24 hours, crews will be on the field, staging and working together to ready pumps, do final inspections on the barriers, and make the final preparations to make sure the community is ready for the floods.

Since 2011, Suicide Basin has released glacier lake outburst floods that cause annual flooding along Mendenhall Lake and River. A new record major flood event took place on Aug. 13, 2025.