Heavy rain Thursday and Friday caused minor mudslides and triggered flood warnings across Juneau, but as soggy conditions gave way to sunshine, no major damage was reported and no injuries were reported.
According to the National Weather Service, 3.56 inches of rain fell at Juneau International Airport between midnight Thursday morning and 4 p.m. Friday.
In downtown Juneau, 3.35 inches of rain was recorded between 8 a.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday.
Higher amounts were found at higher elevations: At Eaglecrest’s Powder Patch measuring station, 6.68 inches of rain was recorded between midnight Friday morning and 4 p.m. Friday. At the top of the Mount Roberts Tramway, 4.79 inches of rain was recorded in the same period.
The surge of rainfall swelled rivers above their banks and into flood stage. Jordan Creek crested just shy of 11 feet about 3 p.m. according to the river gauge. That was high enough to send several inches of water over Glacier Highway near Nugget Mall, though traffic was unaffected. Flood stage for the creek is 9.7 feet.
When Jordan Creek tops 10.5 feet, it’s high enough to push water into homes and businesses along its banks.
One of those businesses was Valley Chiropractic Clinic, located in the Jordan Creek Condominiums near McDonald’s. The parking lot of the condominium complex — which includes mostly medical practices — was flooded, forcing patients to wade through foot-deep water in some places to get to their appointments.
Dr. Tom Gundelfinger has seen floods like this before and spoke calmly as the rain continued to fall outside. There was a much worse flood in 1983, he recalled, when his young daughter watched with delight as salmon swam by the office’s stoop. As of noon Friday, nobody at Valley Chiropractic had spotted any fish swimming by.
Property Manager Tracey Ricker said that this is the worst flooding that she’s seen in this location. The buildings weren’t flooding yet Friday morning, she said, but some of the crawl spaces were starting to flood.
“We’re just telling everybody that this is gonna be here for a while,” Ricker said.
A woman named Rose, from Nizich Family Dental, said she expects the buildings to flood at some point. She appreciated the warning NWS issued Friday morning, but admitted that she didn’t think it would be quite as bad as it was.
Around lunchtime, Rose splashed her way out of her office and headed for her car, where the water was covering half of her tires.
“I guess I should move my car out of the river,” she joked.
Montana Creek reached 15.91 feet at Mendenhall Loop Bridge, slightly above the flood stage of 15.5 feet but well below the record 17.36 feet recorded in October 1998.
The fast-rising water caused the NWS to issue a flood warning and stream advisory Friday.
The most significant damage from the heavy rain came in downtown Juneau, where runoff from Mount Juneau eroded the banks of Gold Creek near the Calhoun Avenue bridge at the entrance to Cope Park.
The City and Borough of Juneau closed the bridge until engineers could determine whether the bridge’s footings had been affected.
Runoff from Mount Roberts filled the parking lot in front of the visitor information center with several inches of brown, murky water.
Aurah Landau, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Transportation, said by email that a small mudslide blocked Thane Road about 6 a.m. Friday, but it was quickly removed.
On Douglas, a boulder fell onto Douglas Highway about the same time and was also removed, she wrote.
DOT and CBJ maintenance crews were kept busy clearing culverts and storm drains from rain-swept debris but successfully kept streets clear and water moving without serious incident, city and state officials said.
The torrential rain, exceptional even by Juneau’s soggy seasonal standards, comes courtesy of Typhoon Lan, whose remnants have left Asia and have created an “atmospheric river” of subtropical moisture pointed at Southeast Alaska.
Conditions cleared late Friday and into Saturday, leaving mostly sunny skies Saturday and Sunday. More rain is expected with the start of the workweek.
• Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com or call 523-2258.
