Suicide Basin is a side basin of the Mendenhall Glacier above Juneau, Alaska. Since 2011, Suicide Basin has released glacier lake outburst floods that cause inundation along Mendenhall Lake and River annually with a record major flood event taking place on August 6, 2024. The latest release took place on October 20, 2024.

Current Status: Wednesday, 10/25/2024 at 940am.

Suicide Basin had a 2nd full release between 10/19-10/21/24 resulting in minor impacts along the Mendenhall Lake shoreline around the Mendenhall Visitor Center and campground. The laser pool elevation gauge showed the level fell to 921ft (fell to 945ft in Aug 2024). Due to colder temperatures, another release is not anticipated through the winter.

Monitoring Equipment Status:

The USGS has shut down the cameras and laser data due to harsh winter conditions in the basin. Check back in the spring time for updates on when the equipment gets turned back on.

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UAS performed a drone survey of the basin on 08/06 to capture post-release imagery and elevation data. UAS, USGS, and NWS continue evaluating the data from this record major flooding event on the Mendenhall Lake and River. More information will be available here in the coming months.   

Images from the entire 2024 season can be viewed here.

Here is the NWS summary report from the major flooding event from the Suicide Basin glacier lake outburst flood in August 2024.

Additional Information available:

• Mendenhall River Inundation Maps (Follow the link, then scroll down to Gauge Location, select Activate MNDA2 FIM Gauge)
• Flood Safety Tips and Resources 
• Historical release data from Suicide Basin
• Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center (AK CASC) Story Map "Hidden Water: The Suicide Basin Outburst Flood" 
• The Suicide Basin glacier outburst flood: 2023 and beyond (Recording of the Oct 27 2023 Evening at Egan)
• 2023 Season Time-Lapse Animations (Image and Vector)
• 2022 Season Time-Lapse Animations (Image and Vector)
• If you missed the 6/3 townhall meeting with local experts explaining improvements to the monitoring and forecasting programs for the 2024 season, Click here to view the recording.

Latest Basin Image - Scales

Most recent image from the basin, updated at daily to sub-daily intervals (see time-stamp bottom right). The camera is placed at the basin entrance and faces northeast, into the basin. Click on image to enlarge and read basin levels.

Full Season Viewer

Recent Timelapse (Last 15 Images)

Latest Basin Image - Vectors

Most recent image from the basin (same as on the left) with vectors indicating ice motion direction and magnitude. Click on image to enlarge.

Full Season Viewer

Recent Timelapse (Last 15 images)

Suicide Basin Level (Pool Height)

Graph showing the current (blue) pool height of Suicide Basin.  

At this time (7/10), values are from the laser detection system.

Mendenhall Lake Stage Level

Graph showing the current (blue) and predicted (purple) stage level at Mendenhall Lake. Stage levels are annotated on the left y-axis on the graph. The graph also shows the Mendenhall River discharge (right y-axis), which is derived from the Mendenhall Lake stage level via rating curve.

Alternate Basin Image

The USGS installed a second camera taking images with a view of the glacier-basin interface. This image will be updated at daily to sub-daily intervals. Click on the image to enlarge.

Full Season Viewer

Recent Timelapse (Last 15 Images)