Fairbanks Gets Half Of Annual Average Rainfall In Past 2 Weeks, One Quarter In 24 Hours

FAIRBANKS -- After two days, this is already the 12th rainiest July in the history of Fairbanks. For the third time in two weeks, a rainstorm laden with moisture from the eastern Gulf of Alaska drenched the Fairbanks area Tuesday and early Wednesday, dumping more than 3 inches of rain. Over the last two weeks, Fairbanks has received about half of its average annual rainfall, one of the wettest stretches since Felix Pedro discovered gold in 1902. During a 24-hour period Tuesday and Wednesday, about one-quarter of the average annual rainfall fell.

With the ground saturated, minor streams turned overnight into whitewater channels, a sight so unusual that people stopped to take pictures. About 2 feet of water covered the Old Steese Highway near Fox on Wednesday afternoon, while rushing water created potholes and washouts across the region.

By late afternoon most of the rain had ended, but the rivers continued to rise across the central and eastern Interior as the hills drained in a rush. For the second time in two weeks and only the 22nd time in nearly 35 years, the Army Corps of Engineers closed the floodgates on the Chena River to keep water off the streets of Fairbanks.

The river at the Moose Creek Dam climbed to just over flood stage at 24.83 feet Wednesday afternoon. Water began collecting behind the steel gates of the Moose Creek Dam, about 35 river miles from the center of Fairbanks, at 3 p.m.

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