Fairbanks logs wettest September since 1925 as Chena River hits late-season record

Fairbanks got more rain in September than in any September since 1925. The National Weather Service recorded 4.04 inches of precipitation for the month, compared with a normal of 1.35 inches. The steady soaking pushed the Chena River to its highest level on record for this late in the summer, according to a monthly climate recap published Tuesday by Rick Thoman, a University of Alaska Fairbanks climate specialist.

The recap found no flooding in the Fairbanks area itself. Thoman credited rain spread over roughly three weeks instead of one heavy burst. He wrote last month that the spread-out rain also meant the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers never activated the Moose Creek Flood Control Dam near North Pole. Upstream, a National Weather Service flood advisory issued Sept. 17 warned of minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas and water over roadways from Moose Creek Dam to the end of Chena Hot Springs Road. It listed a flood stage of 24.5 feet for the Chena River below Moose Creek Dam, with a forecast crest near 25 feet. The weather service kept a flood watch, then the advisory, in effect for the Fairbanks Metro Area, Two Rivers and the Upper Chena River Valley for about a week before canceling it on Sept. 20.

The wet month in Fairbanks was part of a sharp split across the state. Precipitation showed a strong south-to-north contrast, the recap said. Northern Alaska ran much wetter than its 1991-2020 normal, while southern areas did not see the same surplus.

Snow mostly stayed at higher elevations. A CoCoRaHS weather station at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Toolik Field Station, about 2,500 feet up in the central Brooks Range, reported 17.5 inches of snow during the month. Some lower elevations from around Fairbanks northward picked up a little snow. Bettles had the most at 2.8 inches, slightly below normal for September.