Time-lapse photos capture drop of glacial lake in Alaska during outburst flood
Over two days in early August, a glacial lake on a tributary of the Mendenhall Glacier burst through its ice dam and drained into the Mendenhall River. Time-lapse images from a remote camera captured the dramatic drop in lake levels. NOAA Climate.gov movie, based on images from the National Weather Service forecast office in Juneau, Alaska.
Details
An outburst flood from a glacial meltwater lake sent record amounts of water into Mendenhall Lake and down Mendenhall River toward Juneau, Alaska, between August 4 and August 6, 2023. Significant flooding was reported in areas along the river that have not seen flooding from these types of events in the past, the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Juneau said. Flood waters swept trees and buildings into the river as significant erosion occurred. Read our Event Tracker feature.