The National Weather Service in Anchorage issued a Flood Warning for an ice jam in the Anchor River downstream from the Old Sterling Highway bridge. The Warning is in effect till 10:30 p.m. Thursday. River gauge readings along the Anchor River are reading above major flood stage.
Celene van Breukelen, Operational Hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage spoke to KSRM, “There’s a river gauge on the Old Sterling Highway where the Anchor River crosses over. An ice jam is when you have all of the ice that accumulates throughout the winter. When it melts out, it melts out pretty quickly. You still have large chunks of ice. Sometimes it gets jammed up and hung up on each other as they’re melting out. Normally, this is a flood prone spot, especially because the slopes of the river really decreases so it gets kind of flat as it goes through the state recreation site. It tends to be a flood prone area. It’s difficult to tell exactly what the river is doing when looking at the gauge when you’re having an ice jam because the stage can be very, very local to what’s happening. Just because you have a really high stage under the gauge doesn’t always necessarily translate to impacts downstream. Generally, when you see ice jams like this, you might have water that’s flowing over the Old Seward Highway. There’s a little bit of a low spot there and there also might be water in the campgrounds at the state rec site.”
Flood advisories or warnings for ice jams are common this time of year as spring melt and breakup continues. Weather forecasters advise to be prepared for fluctuating water levels and flood conditions, especially along the Anchor River. The areas most likely to experience flooding include the area surrounding the Anchor River and Old Sterling Highway junction and the Anchor River State Recreation Area.
A Flood Warning means that flooding is imminent or occurring.