UAS scientists unveil new data about Juneau’s glacial outburst flood

Mendenhall Glacier is melting in ways that affect the size of glacial outburst floods in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley. In a crowded lecture hall at Egan Library on Friday, scientists presented new preliminary data on how the ice contributed to this summer’s record-breaking flood , and shared their ideas about how that could change in the future.

Juneau’s glacial outburst flood in August broke more than one record. Eran Hood is an environmental scientist at the University of Alaska Southeast. He said the Mendenhall River rose quicker than ever this year.

“It was a fast release — the fastest release we’ve seen in terms of just the rate at which the amount of water in the river was increasing hour over hour,” Hood said.

There was also more water than in years past, both from heav