Alaska, 2002

Flooding in Alaska, August 17 to 20, 2002

August 17 to 20, 2002 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Steady rain developed along a stationary front that streched across the MIddle Tanana Valley. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches were sufficient enough to cause minor flooding on the Chatanika, LIttle Chena, Chena, and Salcha Rivers.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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.

Steady rain developed along a stationary front that streched across the MIddle Tanana Valley. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches were sufficient enough to cause minor flooding on the Chatanika, LIttle Chena, Chena, and Salcha Rivers. Flooding on the Chena River caused a road closure at mile 37.5 CHena Hot Springs road as high water...up to 1 foot...crosed the roadway. On the Salcha River, a residence reported the river 36 miles up from the Richardson Highway Bridge had risen 5 to 6 feet and was continuing to rise at 2 to 2.5 inches per hour. One man reported the Salcha river was over its banks and "raging", forcing him to leave his cabin. The high flow on the Chena River prompted the Corps of Engineers to lower the Chena Flood Control Project gates for several days beginning on Monday the 19th; this causes the flow to the Fairbanks Metro area to remain below flood stage while re-directing some of this water into the Tanana River.

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 17, 6:23 PM AST, 2 hours 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 17, 6:23 PM AST, 2 hours 37 minutes before
NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM ADT SAT AUG 17 2002

BIGGEST HYDRO EVENT FOR THE FAIRBANKS AREA SINCE THE HEAVY RAINS AND ICE
JAMS OF BREAKUP IS NOW IN HIGH GEAR. AREA BETWEEN CHATANIKA AND
GOODPASTER RIVERS HAS RECEIVED AN AVERAGE OF AROUND 2 INCHES OF RAIN
OVER THE LAST 40 HOURS...WITH MORE ON THE WAY.

BROAD 500MB LOW CENTERED NEAR BANKS ISLAND WONT BE GOING ANYWHERE FOR
THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE CONTROLLING FEATURE
FOR THE WEATHER OVER NORTHERN ALASKA.  SURFACE FRONT EXTENDS FROM LOW
NEAR BANKS ISLAND TO GREAT SLAVE LAKE AND THEN THOUGH ALASKA ROUGHLY
PARALEL TO 65N...FRONT THEN MEETS DEVELOPING WAVE LOW NEAR BERING
STRAIT. HEAVIEST RAIN IS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE FRONT. SOME SHOWERS ARE
JUST NORTH OF THE FRONT...BUT AREAS FURTHER NORTH OF THE FRONT ARE DRY
WITH SOME SUN.

WAVE LOW IN BERING SEA PROGGED TO MOVE EAST OVER NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.
1014MB SURFACE LOW NEAR PAOM 4PM SATURDAY WILL MOVE TO PAFA 4PM SUNDAY
AS 1000MB LOW...THEN MOVE EAST INTO YUKON TERRITORY MONDAY WITH LITTLE
CHANGE IN PRESSURE. OPPORTUNITY FOR GOOD RAIN IN BASINS BETWEEN
CHATANIKA AND GOODPASTER WITH PASSAGE OF THIS LOW. COULD SEE AN
ADDITIONAL 0.50 TO 1.00 INCH OF RAIN...HEAVIER AMOUNTS WOULD OF COURSE
CAUSE MORE HYDRO TROUBLE. MONDAY BRINGS A WELCOME CHANCE FOR DRYING IN
THE FAIRBANKS AREA IN THE COLD ADVECTION REGIME BEHIND THE WEAK SURFACE
LOW.

ARCTIC COAST...CLOUDY REGIME WILL CONTINUE FOR NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...WITH
BOUTS OF LIGHT SNOW OR RAIN. FLOOD WARNING FOR RIVERS DRAINING OUT OF
THE BROOKS RANGE FROM THE KUPARUK RIVER EASTWARD CONTINUES UNTIL 4PM
SUNDAY. THIS AREA HASNT SEEN HEAVY PRECIPITTAION FOR OVER 24 HOURS
NOW...SO IT IS JUST A QUESTION OF HOW MUCH TIME IS REQUIRED FOR RUNOFF
TO REACH THE COAST. TELEMETERED RIVER GAGE ON THE KUPARUK RIVER NEAR
DEADHORSE WILL BE THE BEST TOOL FOR FINDING THE CREST. TODAY THIS GAGE
HAS CONTINUED TO RISE...EXPECT A CREST WITHIN NEXT 24 HOURS.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...FLOOD WARNING ZONES 203-204-206.
         FLOOD WARNING ZONES 222>224.
MARINE...NONE.

ES AUG 02

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Middle Tanana Valley

When
August 17, 9:00 PM AST to August 18, 11:00 AM AST
Where
Middle Tanana Valley forecast zone
Reported by
DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

Flood, Deltana and Tanana

When
August 18, 10:00 AM AST to August 20, 8:00 AM AST
Where
Deltana and Tanana forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC

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

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: 5313140, 5313141.