Heavy rain and wet snow wreaked havoc on much of southern Alaska on Tuesday, flooding homes and roads. A large swath of Alaska has been under advisories for storms, heavy rain, wind and flooding since the weekend.
Anchorage
On Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Anchorage, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Arctic Valley, Eagle River and Potter Marsh. According to NWS, rain over the previous 24 hours "caused streams to rise sharply."
"Heavy rain has also caused ponding of water on many roads in the Anchorage Bowl and Glenn Highway," NWS wrote.
NWS warned drivers not to attempt to drive across flooded streets and suggested finding alternate routes to travel.
"It takes only a few inches of swiftly flowing water to carry vehicles away," NWS said.
NWS meteorologist Mike Ottenweller said the NWS Sand Lake office recorded 1.48 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. Stevens Anchorage International Airport recorded 1.65 inches of snow in the last 24 hours.
Department of Transportation spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy said the wet weather has kept her agency busy.
"Our Anchorage maintenance crews have been working on patching the potholes which are forming in the rain," McCarthy wrote in an email Tuesday night. "They are also unplugging storm drains and clearing ditches as they become clogged. DOT&PF maintenance forces also removed rocks from the Seward (past Potter Marsh) around 4 a.m. and around the same time helped drain a small lake forming in the road on A Street."
In an updated forecast issued by NWS at 4:17 p.m., the rain was expected to turn into snow at lower elevations by Tuesday evening. Lower elevations can expect one to two inches of snow, NWS wrote.
But on Anchorage's Hillside, the rain turned into wet, sticky snow earlier in the day. Joshua and Karli Breduig of Arizona drove to the Glen Alps Trailhead at the base of Flattop Mountain just to find the snow.
Joshua Breduig appeared determined to have a snowball fight. While Karli Breduig explained why the couple plans to move to Anchorage soon, she stopped mid-sentence to avoid a snowball.
The couple took a few pictures and then headed off on a snowy adventure.
In a Bear Valley park, Casey Cawson lay on the ground making snow angels with her tongue poking out of her mouth in an attempt to catch snowflakes.
The East Anchorage 3-year-old heard her mother, Gene Cawson, talking about the snow Monday night and didn't forget.
"She's been talking about playing in the snow since last night. She came into my room last night and told me she couldn't sleep because she was 'too excited' about it. So I've been driving around looking for snow."
NWS isn't predicting snow in the Anchorage area for Wednesday, but on Tuesday morning NWS meteorologist Dave Snider said there could be light accumulations in the middle of the night or in the early morning.
"People could wake up to an inch or two on the ground that could go away -- there could be some snow flurries during the morning commute," Snider said.
Mat-Su
Six roads in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough were flooded Tuesday night and at least 10 homes or cabins were surrounded by water in the area of North Burrow Street and River-Aire Drive in Willow, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough reported, adding that some residents chose to leave their homes.
Willow Creek was running at roughly 10 times the volume it had last week and 3 feet higher, at nearly 5 and a half feet, according to a U.S. Geological Survey gauge. Roiling brown water carried logs downstream near Willow-Fishhook Road, eating away at a few roads and flooding others. Mat-Su Borough road crews posted road closure signs at various potentially impassable roads, including West Deneki Drive.
Just off Deneki, Kevin Vance had a creek where his driveway usually was Tuesday afternoon and more water running from Willow Creek through his yard. Vance and his family were getting ready to move their two horses to higher ground from a creekside paddock.
But Vance said that, at least as of mid-afternoon, flooding didn't seem as bad as several years ago and he wasn't too worried. His home is one of the oldest on the creek, he said. "It's been high before."
To the south, Houston Mayor Virgie Thompson said Tuesday that one home was threatened, with two more near rising water. She said neighbors in the affected area reported water over the banks of the Little Susitna River near North Maid Marion Drive in Houston.
Emergency officials were monitoring high water along the Little Su in Houston and near Schrock Road.
Carol Gibbs lives along the Little Su off Schrock and told her husband to get ready to move to a neighbor's property on higher ground if necessary.
"Pack up the dogs, the food, important stuff, and let the rest go," Gibbs said. She was at the Three Bears on Pittman Road on Tuesday, showing videos of the river eating through her backyard.
Gibbs wasn't too worried about her home but had already lost property.
"Land is land, and God's gonna take it," she said.
"The Talkeetna River, Montana Creek, Willow Creek, and Little Susitna River will begin to fall more sharply during the day Wednesday," the National Weather Service reported shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Southeast
Much of Southeast Alaska is under a coastal flood warning amid heavy rains.
"With the ground saturated from rainfall overnight, a majority of the remaining rain will run off into area rivers and streams," forecasters wrote. "This will cause rapid rises on the rivers and streams and flooding will be possible from early this morning through late Tuesday night."
At sea, a storm warning is in place for the Gulf of Alaska near Kodiak through Tuesday night, with winds up to 50 knots and seas reaching 18 feet expected in the area. According to Ahsenmacher, a low system moving into Prince William Sound and propelling the Gulf of Alaska storm was expected to produce nearly hurricane-force winds in the region Tuesday.
"We're looking at maybe 60-70-mile wind gusts across Kodiak Island by this evening," Ahsenmacher said. "This strong wind will eventually drift off and subside in the eastern part of the Gulf."
Small craft advisories were in place along much of Alaska's northern and western coast Tuesday, with winds from 25 to 35 knots and seas from 5 to 12 feet expected from Barrow to Bethel. Much of the Aleutian Islands and the waters off Southeast Alaska are under gale warnings from Tuesday into Wednesday, with peak gusts from 20 to 35 knots expected.