A heavy rainstorm arrived in Juneau late Wednesday night, bringing with it winds reaching 35 to 40 mph that are likely to last through Friday morning, according to officials with the National Weather Service Juneau.
More storms are likely to follow throughout the next week.
“We’re looking at a multiday event here,” said Caleb Cravens, a meteorologist with the NWS Juneau. “We’re going to be watching for any potential impacts from whether it be flooding, landslides or strong winds.”
A flood watch was put in effect by NWS beginning Thursday morning and is expected to last through Friday morning. Cravens said as of 10 a.m. Thursday, Juneau had received about 1 to 2 inches of rain, and he anticipated another 1 to 2 inches would follow by evening.
He said the NWS is watching for flooding of rivers, creeks or streams that may occur from the rainfall, along with any impacts that may occur from the gusty conditions.
“We are starting to see some responses and rivers starting to rise, but nothing of concern just yet, we’re going to keep an eye on those,” he said.
Cravens said though this rainfall will largely subside by late evening Thursday to early Friday morning, more storms appear to be on the way.
“After Thursday we’re going to see a brief break, but looking ahead at the forecast we’re going to see a parade of low-pressure systems move into the Gulf,” he said. “And they’re going to bring more moderate to heavy precipitation and windy conditions.”
Cravens said residents can expect the multiple storms to last until Thursday of next week.
“We’re going into a pattern change, fall is here as this is fall weather for us,” he said. “We get these low-pressure systems, and lots of moisture comes into the Panhandle and windy conditions, so that’s what we’re going to be monitoring.”
A rockslide was reported to the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities early Thursday morning along Glacier Highway just beyond Tee Harbor.
According to DOTPF spokesperson Sam Dapcevich, a maintenance crew responded to the incident shortly after to address any disruptions it may cause. He said residents asked to reduce their speed and use extra caution when passing through the work zone.
Dapcevich said he has not been notified of any other similar incidents so far in the Southeast region, but noted incidents like the rockslide aren’t atypical during the fall months.
“We’ll continue to see these kinds of incidents when we have wet and windy weather like this,” he said.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651) 528-1807.
