Flood in Alaska, May 11 to 12, 2003

Name: Flood in Alaska, May 11 to 12, 2003
Start: 2003-05-11T20:00
End: 2003-05-12T15:00
Location: Alaska

May 11 to 12, 2003 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An ice jam formed approximately 2 miles downstream from the village of Hughes on the Koyukuk River. Water which backed up behind the ice jam inundated Hughes with a few feet of water.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $4,000
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 happened

The episode as NWS AFG wrote it up.

An ice jam formed approximately 2 miles downstream from the village of Hughes on the Koyukuk River. Water which backed up behind the ice jam inundated Hughes with a few feet of water. The high water washed out two taxiways at the airport, flooded several houses, littered the village with large chunks of ice, and knocked over two fuel tanks. Damage amount consists of $3000 to repair taxiways, and an estimated $500 to repair/upright the fuel tanks.

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 May 11, 1:30 PM AST, 6 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 11, 1:30 PM AST, 6 hours 30 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM ADT SUN MAY 11 2003

TRANSITION TO TROUGH ALOFT OVER MOST ALL OF THE FORECAST AREA IS
ABOUT COMPLETE...WITH FLOW...SURFACE AND ALOFT...ON ITS WAY TO BECOME
FAIRLY WEAK. THIS WILL RESULT IN A FAIRLY CLOUDY AND COOL PATTERN
FOR THE FORECAST AREA WHICH LOOKS LIKELY TO HOLD THROUGH THIS WEEK.

AT THE SURFACE...993 MB LOW 150 MILES NORTH OF SAINT PAUL WILL BE A
999 MB CENTER 100 MILES EAST OF KODIAK ISLAND BY 4PM MONDAY. 997 MB
LOW NEAR EAGLE WILL DEEPEN A LITTLE AND DRIFT A BIT WESTWARD THROUGH
MONDAY. 1005 MB HIGH DEVELOPING OVER THE EASTERN BEAUFORT SEA TUESDAY
MORNING.

MODELS TODAY SHOW SOME DIFFERENCES...WHICH IS QUITE USUAL FOR A LOW
FLOW REGIME. MID RANGE MODELS ALL SINGING THE SAME TUNE...KEEPING
FORECAST AREA IN BROAD LONGWAVE TROUGH POSITION BUT WITH SOME TREND
FOR RISING HEIGHTS BEYOND MIDWEEK.

FOR THE NORTH SLOPE...OLD OCCLUSION IS SHEARING APART..WITH WINDS
DIMINISHING AND PRECIPITATION BECOMING SPOTTY. BOTH ETA AND AVN TRYING
TO MOVE OLD WARM FRONT TO THE WESTERN ZONES BY MID WEEK...BUT GIVEN
THE SOURCE REGION NO WAY TO KNOW WHAT...IF ANY...WEATHER THIS MIGHT
BRING.

FOR THE WEST COAST...PRETTY QUIET WEATHER BUT WITH AREAS OF LOW CLOUDS
AND FOG NEAR THE COAST. PERHAPS SOME TREND FOR CLEARING SOUTH SIDE
OF THE WESTERN BROOKS RANGE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY AS WEAK TO MODERATE
NORTHEASTERLY SURFACE FLOW DEVELOPS.

FOR THE INTERIOR...MAJOR FORECAST PROBLEM IS MODELS DEVELOPING MAJOR
RAINFALL EVENT OVER A SMALL PORTION OF THE CENTRAL INTERIOR...BASICALLY
NENANA EASTWARD INTO THE YUKON-TANANA UPLANDS NORTH OF DELTA. 18Z ETA
HAS A BULLSEYE OF 1.5 INCHES LIQUID IN 48 HOURS AND 0.5 INCHES IN
48 HOURS AS FAR WEST AS FAIRBANKS. AT LEAST SOME OF THIS IS CONVECTIVE
AND LIKELY TO BE SERIOUSLY OVERDONE...BUT AVN HAS ALSO PICKED UP ON
SOMETHING...WITH 12Z MOS MUCH HIGHER POPS THAN 00Z/06Z RUN. SNOW
LEVELS IN AREAS WITH PRECIPITATION SHOULD REMAIN WELL ABOVE VALLEY
FLOORS. TEMPERATURES REMAINING COOL BUT NOT EXCESSIVELY SO.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE
MARINE...SCA 14.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

RT MAY 03

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Upper Koyukuk Valley

When: May 11, 8:00 PM AST to May 12, 3:00 PM AST
Where: Upper Koyukuk Valley forecast zone
Property damage: $4,000
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

Every storm in Alaska in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, May 2003

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: 5353974.