2008 Tanana Valley Flood - Background

Background

The summer of 2008 was an unusually wet one for central Alaska. In June, the National Weather Service recorded 2.1 inches (53 mm) of precipitation at the Fairbanks International Airport—the most in that month since June 1994, and 0.68 inches (17 mm) above average. By July 27, 1.47 inches of rain had fallen in July. This was slightly below the average for the month at that time (1.49 inches), but the year-to-date rainfall total was still one and two-thirds inches above normal. The next day, July 28, 1.14 inches of rain fell in Fairbanks, setting a single-day Fairbanks rainfall total for that date, with heavier amounts measured east of the town. Scattered locations between Salcha and Delta Junction received up to four inches of precipitation. On the 29th, another 0.77 inches of rain fell in Fairbanks—another record for the date—and again, locations outside of the town received greater amounts. Just 0.14 inches of rain fell on the 30th, but on the 31st, 0.6 inches fell. This amount was not a record for the date, but it brought the overall rainfall total in Fairbanks for the month of July to 4.12 inches—more than double the normal average of 1.73 inches (44 mm) of rain. At Eielson Air Force Base, which lies to the southwest of Fairbanks, 7.30 inches of rain were recorded as having fallen in July, making it the rainiest July ever recorded and the second-rainiest month ever recorded at the base. Though more rain fell on August 1 and afterward, the Tanana, Salcha, and Chena rivers had already crested.