More weird weather

[Blue_In_AK]

http://www.adn.com/article/20150725/roads-reopen-after-heavy-rain-flooding-anchorage

Roads reopen after Record rain, flooding in Anchorage


About 30 people were evacuated from an Anchorage apartment building following flash flooding that stranded cars and shut down some Anchorage streets Saturday night.

The Anchorage Fire Department evacuated a multiplex off Cordova and 12th Street after apartments on the lower level flooded and the department deemed the building to be unsafe. The residents were transported on a People Mover bus to an evacuation shelter set up at the Fairview Rec Center by the The American Red Cross of Alaska.

The National Weather Service described the heavy rain Saturday night as a "12 hour-50 year rainfall event," with the heaviest generally falling in a corridor along the Seward Highway from Midtown to South Anchorage before tapering off overnight. The heaviest rainfall recorded was 2.2 inches at a weather station at Lake Otis Parkway and O'Malley Road.

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More rain is expected to continue across portions of Anchorage through Saturday night and into Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. The agency issued a flooding advisory for the area, noting that rivers and streams are elevated from runoff and water has been collecting in streets, underpasses and in poor drainage areas and low lying spots.

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It's not too unusual for us to have rain this time of year, but it's usually the drizzly kind, not this steady downpour.

We've had record heat this summer, almost record fires, and now record rain. Winter should be "interesting."

[NV Whino]

1. Well, there might be enough snow for the Iditerod.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Hopefully.

We might get a winter like two or three years ago when we had record snowfall. Last year was record NO snowfall. Usually in El Niño years we get more moisture (of course), but the question is whether it will come as rain or snow. I personally prefer just snow because the freeze and thaw cycles wreak havoc on some of our perennials, not to mention it's a sloppy and dangerous mess. There's nothing worse than driving on rain on top of ice.

[NV Whino]

3. Yeah, the weather is almost as challenging as politics lately.