Juneau, Alaska, Buried In December Snow, Now Faces Rain, Flooding, Avalanches

A bus makes its way through a flooded street in 
Juneau, Alaska. After unprecedented snows, it's
been raining in Juneau, causing flooding, 
avalanches and other trouble in the 
weather-beleaguered city

In December, Juneau, Alaska was buried under more than 80 inches of snow, capsizing boats in the harbor, caving in roofs and blocking streets. 

Now, after some more snow, it's raining up there in Juneau. Now we have an even bigger mess.

Juneau sometimes gets heavy snow and downpours of rain during the winter as storms and atmospheric rivers come in off the Pacific Ocean. 

But the extremes of the past few weeks is totally off the charts compared to what Juneau has experience in the past 

"These are unprecedented times," said Aaron Jacobs, the senior hydrologist at the National Weather Service office in Juneau.  "The amount of snowpack that we are seeing on the ground at the airport, and then this massive warm-up we're seeing, really hasn't been seen in the climate records."

After four additional inches of snow fell on Juneau Friday, the precipitation switched over to rain. The city received 1.58 inches of precipitation that day. Areas around Juneau receive up to eight inches of snow and two inches of rain.  

On Friday and over this weekend, the rain/snow line crept up the steep slopes of the mountains. The higher up the slopes the rain gets, the greater the avalanche risk.

As KTOO reported:

"John Bressette, the city's new avalanche advisor, said multiple avalanches happened on Mount Juneau on known slide paths including White Pass, Chop Gully near Flume Train and above Behrends Avenue. He said he doesn't know exactly how many occurred, but that it's somewhere in the double-digits." 

People in avalanche prone areas in and near Juneau were urged to be ready to leave at the drop of a hat due to the avalanche worries. 

An emergency warming shelter was moved from a converted warehouse to an elementary school Friday due to the avalanche risk. By Sunday, emergency managers deemed that the avalanche risk had diminished, so they moved the shelter back to the warehouse.  There could be avalanches in that areas, but they wouldn't be strong enough to reach the shelter. 

Some avalanches did crash down the steep slopes above Juneau, but none hit populated areas. 

The shelters are open in large part because the weight of the snow, plus the rain water soaking into that snow, is threatening the stability of many roofs in and around Juneau. 

About sixty people were on the roof of the Bartlett Regional Hospital Saturday trying to remove snow because roof loads were nearing capacity, reports KTOO.

The snow-clogged storm drains and ditches in Juneau were no match for the rain and the snow melt. Streets flooded, and water began to seep into basements across the city. 

Another rain storm was set to hit Juneau and the rest of southeast Alaska last night and this morning. A more powerful storm set to hit Tuesday night has prompted a flood watch for southeast Alaska, especially south of Juneau. To add insult to injury, a  high wind watch is also up for Tuesday night and Wednesday for pretty much the entire Alaska Panhandle. 

Video: An avalanche is seen crashing down a steep slope in Juneau on Friday. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

 

Wow! Here's A Switch! First Warmer/Drier Than Normal Forecast in California In Many Weeks

Funny how a routine long range forecast can blow a weather geek of their seat.

Here's something not seen in months: Drier than 
normal weather is forecast in California 8 to14
days from now after an incredibly stormy winter. 

Today, I took a gander at the daily updated eight to 14 day United States weather outlook from the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center. 

This forecast, covering April 7 to 13 is starting lean toward above normal temperatures in northern California and near normal reading in the southern half of the state. This April 7-13 period also has the state in drier than normal conditions.

This is the first time in many, many weeks in which the West Coast forecast did not call for well below normal temperatures and well above normal rain and snowfall. 

This news, welcome by many no doubt, comes after another cold storm dumped another one to two feet of snow on many of California's snow-crushed higher elevations. 

The latest storm brings the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada to the deepest and wettest since at least before 1983, and is probably in the top 5 list dating to the 1950s.  

The snowpack in Utah's mountains has also reached a record high. The snow measuring equipment at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah is actually buried. There's 13.5 feet of snow on the ground at this site. 

The eight to 14 day forecast in Utah calls for greater than equal chances of cooler and drier than normal conditions. 

One caveat to note is the eight to 14 day forecasts aren't alway right. A lot can happen in the atmosphere over the course of a week to make the prediction wrong. 

The 8 to 14 day forecast also leans slightly
toward warmer than average conditions in California

A little bit of warm, dry weather in California is no problem, as the snow gradually begins to melt.  They'll have to watch out for sustained very warm to hot weather that could occur later in April and May which could melt the snow too fast, resulting in flooding. 

For what it's worth, the six to 10 day outlook for Vermont calls for a welcome spate of warmer than normal temperatures with possibly somewhat above normal precipitation. 

The eight to 14 day forecast for Vermont calls for near normal temperatures and rainfall.

Normal temperatures in the April 7-13 time frame in Vermont feature highs of around 50 degrees and lows near the freezing point.