The National Weather Service issued a Special Weather Statement Thursday, warning southcentral Alaskans that the warm temperatures forecast for the weekend will elevate stream water levels.
Service Hydrologist Andy Dixon says there is no flooding expected, the announcement serves to notify anyone recreating on the water.
Dixon: “It’s been a pretty snow-free winter at most of the lower elevations but the upper elevations really caught more snowfall than normal. So there’s still above-average snow pack in the highest elevations of our coastal mountains. With the onset of the first real summertime feeling air mass moving in today and continuing through the weekend and maybe even into early next week, we’re really going to see the snow melt runoff ramp up from those higher elevations.”
He says the warning is for some of the smaller rivers and streams or tributaries that will be significantly impacted by increasing snow melt over the weekend, not large water bodies like Kenai River.
Dixon gave advice to anyone who’s decided to recreate on the water this weekend, like fisherpeople or kayakers.
Dixon: “So people need to be tuned in and maybe refresh themselves about some of the local area details. The information on the water levels is continually recorded and is always recorded on the web, go to www.weather.gov/aprfc. You’ll see river forecasts and river observations for all the streams that we’re monitoring all across the state.”
Currents of small streams and rivers may be changed by increased runoff, recreators should proceed with caution even on areas of water that they know well.