Even for Juneau residents used to their share of rain and wind, Tuesday’s weather proved unusually rough and unruly.
By 11 a.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service reported Juneau collected .83 inches of rain since midnight — sweeping right past the 2009 record of .66 inches.
NWS meteorologist intern David Levin reported for the Juneau station that the rain isn’t expected to slow down but “the worst of (the wind) should be done” as of noon Tuesday.
Wind reports for downtown Juneau showed gusts of up to 70 mph near the Federal Building, 82 mph near Eaglecrest and winds reached 160 mph on Sheep Mountain.
Gusts at the Juneau International Airport didn’t go past 60 mph, but it was enough to cause delays.
Airport Manager Patricia deLaBruere said she noticed a slight delay by an Alaska Airlines flight and a complete stall experienced by Delta Airlines.
Delta’s website reported one 6:45 a.m. Tuesday flight to Seattle was not cleared to take off until 11:50 a.m.
“It’s just Juneau winds,” deLaBruere said, adding that passengers will have to plan on some waiting, but aside from that it was business as usual at the airport.
From the weather station, Levin said the worst of the wind is likely behind Juneau for this week. Other Southeast Alaska communities and neighboring regions were not as lucky, he said.
“Throughout the Southeast there have been a lot of reports of outages and trees down, harbor damage in Prince of Wales,” Levin said. “Ketchikan was hit pretty hard.”
Today’s system will bring another round of heavy rain, but with winds more typical to the Southeast, Levin said.
Jennifer Shinn, an administrative assistant with the City and Borough of Juneau’s Docks and Harbors Port, released a report Tuesday morning advising all vessel owners to check their vessels during the stormy weather. Lines should be secure, pumps should be checked and boats should be given a once over to be sure they are not collecting water.
