Flood in Alaska, August 16 to 20, 2002

Name: Flood in Alaska, August 16 to 20, 2002
Start: 2002-08-16T08:30
End: 2002-08-20T07:30
Location: Alaska

August 16 to 20, 2002 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy rain fell as a cold front moved slowly south over the area on the 15th. As much as 2 inches of rain in one day was reported near Toolik Lake.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 happened

The episode as NWS AFG wrote it up.

Heavy rain fell as a cold front moved slowly south over the area on the 15th. As much as 2 inches of rain in one day was reported near Toolik Lake. Large amounts of water came at one time as the rainfall followed an earlier snowfall event that left as much as a foot of snow in some places. This combination of rainfall and melting snow caused the a number of creeks and rivers between mileposts 260 and 360 to crest their banks. The Department of Transportation reported that the Dalton Highway at miles 264.5 and 345 were closed due to washouts near the Sagavanirktok River. Water also washed over the road between miles 311 and 315. The worst washout conditions were reported about 72 miles south of Deadhorse where Mark Creek took out three culverts when it washed away the highway.

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 Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 16, 3:00 AM AST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 3:00 AM AST, 5 hours 30 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
400 AM ADT FRI AUG 16 2002

AN UPPER LEVEL LOW NORTH OF BARROW WILL MOVE EAST TO OVER MACKENZIE BAY
TONIGHT THEN EAST OF MACKENZIE BAY SATURDAY NIGHT. THE LOW WILL MOVE
EAST OVER NORTHERN CANADA SUNDAY. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL MOVE SOUTH
AND WILL EXTEND FROM THE LOW OVER MACKENZIE BAY TO ALONG THE NORTH
COAST TO THE CHUKCHI SEA TONIGHT. THE TROUGH WILL CONTINUE MOVING SOUTH
AND AT 400 AM SUNDAY WILL BE OVER THE BROOKS RANGE TO EASTERN RUSSIA.
THE TROUGH WILL BECOME DIAGONAL FROM NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST OVER
NORTHERN ALASKA FROM EARLY TO MID WEEK.

THE ALASKA REGIONAL COORDINATION SURFACE MAP DEPICTS LOW PRESSURE
425 MILES NORTH OF BARTER ISLAND WEAKENING AND MOVING TO 450 MILES
NORTH OF BARTER ISLAND BY 400 AM SATURDAY. THE LOW WILL MOVE EAST OVER
NORTHERN CANADA SATURDAY. A WEATHER FRONT EXTENDING FROM NEAR OLD CROW
TO KOTZEBUE SOUND AND TO EASTERN RUSSIA WILL MOVE TO A LINE FROM EAGLE
TO KOTZEBUE SOUND AND TO NEAR SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND BY 400 AM SATURDAY.
THE FRONT WILL EXTEND FROM SOUTH OF EAGLE TO DENALI AND TO NEAR SAINT
MATTHEW ISLAND AT 400 AM SUNDAY. LOW PRESSURE WILL BE 225 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF SHEMYA AT 400 AM SUNDAY.

RADAR AT NOME SHOWED A LITTLE LIGHT RAIN OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE
SCOPE THIS MORNING. FAIRBANKS RADAR SHOWED A SOLID AREA OF RAIN BETWEEN
LIVENGOOD AND DELTA JUNCTION EXTENDING WEST TO EAST AND MOVING SOUTH.
THERE WERE OTHER PATCHES OF RAIN TO THE NORTH OF LIVENGOOD. THE UPPER
CHENA GAUGE WILL BE MONITORED CLOSELY TODAY.

SATELLITE SHOWED A LOT OF REFLECTIVITY SOUTH OF A COLD FRONT WHICH
EXTENDED ALONG THE BROOKS RANGE THIS MORNING. SURFACE OBSERVATIONS
SHOWED THAT THE FRONT HAD MOVED SOUTH OF ANAKTUVUK PASS AND ARCTIC
VILLAGE.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY AREA 14, SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND WATERS.
         SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY AREA 9A, NORTON SOUND.
         SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY AREA 9B, DALL POINT TO WALES INCLUDING
            THE SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND WATERS.
         SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY AREA 11A, ICY CAPE TO CAPE HALKETT.
         SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY AREA 11B, CAPE HALKETT TO DEMARCATION
            POINT.

DA AUG 02

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R

When: August 16, 8:30 AM AST to August 20, 7:30 AM AST
Where: N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5313139.