Weather service cancels flood watch for Bethel, Kwethluk and nearby Kuskokwim villages

The National Weather Service canceled a flood watch Friday morning for Bethel, Kwethluk, Kasigluk, Napaskiak, Napakiak, Oscarville and nearby villages on the lower Kuskokwim River, about a day before it was set to expire. Friday night, it also canceled a coastal flood warning for the Kuskokwim Delta coast and Nunivak Island, including Kwigillingok and Kipnuk.

The watch had warned that 1 to 2 inches of rain over the Kilbuck Mountains and the lower Kuskokwim could fall onto a river already running unusually high for late September. Forecasters had said low-lying parts of Kwethluk and Kasigluk, where high water was reported the week before, were the most likely to flood. The cancellation notices didn't give a reason.

The Kuskokwim at Bethel was running around 7 feet Saturday morning, below the 8.5-foot level where minor flooding begins, according to the weather service's river gauge.

The lower river has been high for weeks. During the mid-September storm, the Bethel gauge peaked at 9.4 feet on Sept. 15, flooding low-lying parts of Bethel. Water also rose at Kwethluk for several days before leveling off Sept. 18, according to the Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center.

On the coast, the warning had forecast water levels 0.6 to 1.6 feet above the normal high tide line. By Friday, forecasters no longer expected significant flooding there, and the warning was canceled that night.

Residents can check the state's flood inundation maps to see how high water could affect their community.