Alaska News

Valdez, Cordova could get 5 inches of rain in storm

Valdez and Cordova could get as much as 5 inches of rain in a storm Thursday evening and Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

The rain is expected to cause flooding on the Richardson Highway along the Lowe River near Valdez, said meteorologist Shaun Baines, and the weather service has issued small stream flood advisories for the northeast and southeast Prince William Sound regions.

Areas at higher elevations could get 10 inches of rain, the weather service said.

Much of the moisture in the storm will get squeezed out by the mountains between Anchorage and Prince William Sound, Baines said, sparing the city from the heaviest rainfall.

Anchorage could still get up to a half-inch of rain, with as much as 3 inches in the Chugach Range, the weather service said. Minor flooding is expected, especially on the bike path along Chester Creek.

The storm is a typical one this time of year, Baines said, carrying moisture held by air that's still reasonably warm.

"We tend to get tons of rain out of these systems, as we still tap into some of the tropical moisture from down south," Baines said.

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Reach Nathaniel Herz at nherz@adn.com or 257-4311.

By NATHANIEL HERZ

nherz@adn.com

Nathaniel Herz

Anchorage-based independent journalist Nathaniel Herz has been a reporter in Alaska for nearly a decade, with stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. Read his newsletter, Northern Journal, at natherz.substack.com

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