Storms and Winds and Floods, what's next?
October 12, 2012
Well, as fall dwindles down and winter quickly makes its approach, I can’t help but look back on some of the crazy weather events that have happened in Alaska since I arrived last November.
In April of 2012, Anchorage broke the snow record set in 1954 of 132.6 inches. May didn’t bring much relief, with spring breakup causing flooding in many villages along the Kuskokwim.
And then there was summer.
Wait, what summer?
No wonder we barely noticed it with July being the fourth coldest in Anchorage history, according to the National Weather Service. The temperature in Alaska’s largest city averaged 56.3 degrees for the month. In fact this July, we saw only three days with a temperature of 70 degrees or more.
September brought with it powerful wind storms, gusting up to 130 mph in some areas of Anchorage, knocking down trees and leaving thousands without power, a lot of which didn’t see power again for several days.
And then there was the rain…days of rain gave way to flooding across Southcentral Alaska, causing some communities like Talkeetna to evacuate. Many roads were washed out or closed from Talkeetna to Seward, and landslides were reported. The governor declared a state disaster for areas hit by flooding.
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| Photo credit: Rob Stewart at Salmon River Weir, ADF&G |
And just as I began thinking, if it’s going to be so wet out, I’d rather just have snow….we got it. I woke up on September 29th to at least 2 or 3 inches of snow in my backyard.
Careful what you wish for.
It’s almost been a year since I’ve been here…I’m almost afraid to ask – what else could there be???