Taku River glacial outburst flood warning in effect until 11 p.m. tonight

Juneau has an alert in effect until 11 p.m. Anyone on or near the Taku River or Taku Inlet should expect fast, unpredictable rises in the water and debris churning through the channel — a real hazard for boaters.

For Juneau, this is becoming a season, not an event. The city has been hit by a glacial outburst flood every year since 2011, most of them from Suicide Basin above the Mendenhall Glacier — and they've been getting worse. The 2024 flood released an estimated 14.6 billion gallons and damaged more than 100 buildings, part of a run of record-breaking, property-eroding floods in 2023 and 2024.

Tonight's flood is a reminder the danger isn't confined to one glacier. The Taku drainage sits southeast of the Mendenhall but is prone to the same kind of sudden glacial release. And the underlying trend points one way: as the climate warms, retreating glaciers are forming more and bigger meltwater lakes across Alaska — which means more of these floods, and larger ones, in the years ahead.