Special GLOF Edition

I wanted to write about the Alaska menu, but then nature intervened. Welcome to the Special GLOF Edition!

What a Beautiful Day for a Jökulhlaup

I meant to write this update a month ago, but the mountain was calling. We had such fantastic weather! By the way, a Jökulhlaup is not a local word for a mountain snack, but more on that in a moment.

The House on the Mendenhall River

Actually quite peaceful...

Our view from the deck

On August 12th, a message popped up on the phone: “Suicide Basin glacial outburst underway, flooding expected late Tues–Wed. Residents in flood zone should evacuate.”

Our bags were packed, some already in the car. We knew this basin would drain and could prepare for it. In the end, we decided to stay home and watch the spectacle from here. Because it won’t be the last time we experience this.

Jökulhlaup

Jökulhlaup is Icelandic. Jökull = glacier and hlaup = run. A Jökulhlaup (glacial outburst flood) is a catastrophic flood that occurs when large amounts of water are suddenly released, breaking through a lake or an ice dam. In Juneau, there has been a Jökulhlaup every year since 2011, also called a “GLOF” (Glacial Lake Outburst Flood). Since 2023, these GLOFs have become particularly large. In 2023 a house was washed away, and in 2024 more than 300 houses were flooded.

55 Billion Liters of Water

This year another record was broken: 55 billion liters of water rushed down during the GLOF.

If you built a swimming pool on a standard soccer field to hold that much water, it would be 7.7 km (4.8 miles) high.

This year, Juneau built large barriers to hold back the water.

City and Borough of Juneau photo

They held!

Our house on the river, however, is located north of the HESCO barriers.

Our house is the one with arrow

From our perspective

A few hours later you could already see more land again.

In the end, everything was alright. The water came right up to the flowerbeds. Along with giant tree trunks, a wooden skeleton floated by, which Rob fished out. It now stands in front of the flowerbeds as a “scareGLOF.”

The basin emptied again yesterday, but with much less water. It didn’t reach over the riverbank.

And of Course: A Bear Update

When our friends Matt and Mary were here, we had this fantastic bear sighting - courtesy of Travis and Yeny. The video is from Matt. Rob and Travis are in the foreground, Matt, Mary, Yeni and I are behind them. More in Mary’s blog.

Next time, for real: the Alaska menu.