Alaska, 2002

Flash Flood in Alaska, August 13, 2002

August 13, 2002 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 12, 2:15 PM AST, 9 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 2:15 PM AST, 9 hours 45 minutes before
SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1200 PM ADT MON AUG 12 2002

ANALYSIS...MODELS LOOK GOOD.

FORECASTS...THE UPPER TROUGH OVER THE SOUTHWEST DELTA REGION WILL
SWING EAST INTO THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR THIS AFTERNOON, THROUGH
THE SUSITNA VALLEY AND KENAI PENINSULA THIS EVENING AND WILL MOVE
INTO THE YUKON TERRITORY TUESDAY MORNING. A SURFACE LOW JUST
SOUTH OF PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN YUKON
TERRITORY THIS AFTERNOON.

A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO SOUTHWEST ALASKA TUESDAY
NIGHT.

RAIN OVER THE CENTRAL GULF COAST WILL BECOME INTERMITTENT THIS
AFTERNOON AND WILL END LATE TONIGHT. OCCASIONAL RAIN OVER THE
SUSITNA VALLEY AND KENAI PENINSULA WILL BECOME SHOWERS THIS
EVENING AND WILL END ABOUT MIDNIGHT. GUSTY WEST WINDS WILL
DEVELOP OVER THE COOK INLET AND SUSITNA VALLEY TONIGHT AND WILL
DIMINISH WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

A LOW 500 MILES SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE TO NEAR ATKA
TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEAKEN TO 1016 MB. RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS WILL
MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALEUTIANS TUESDAY.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...NONE.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

NM AUG 02

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Matanuska Valley

When
August 13, 12:00 AM AST to 12:00 PM AST
Where
Matanuska Valley County, North Central Portion
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER

Newspaper reports indicated a flash flood along portions of McRoberts Creek Tuesday morning. Reference was made to "...apparently a landslide coming down the shallow gorge that channels the creek..." and also to "...heavy rains...". Apparently a dozen homes were indirectly impacted. Little verification data was available to assess the situation.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, August 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5314435.