Name: Flood in Alaska, August 13, 2004
Start: 2004-08-13T13:00
End: 2004-08-13T21:00
Location: Alaska

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.

Rainfall of one to 4 inches over western Alaska caused streams and rivers to rise. A fish camp located on a sandbar upriver from the village of Kobuk flooded and a Search and Rescue team from the village of Shungnak evacuated the people at the fish camp.

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 13, 5:00 AM AST, 8 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 5:00 AM AST, 8 hours before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM ADT FRI AUG 13 2004

.DISCUSSION...IT LOOKS LIKE A RETURN RIGHT BACK TO VERY WARM AND
DRY WEATHER IS IN THE CARDS FOR NORTHERN ALASKA BEGINNING TODAY
AND CONTINUING FOR A LEAST THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. THE RAINFALL
THAT HAS BEEN FALLING MOSTLY OVER THE WESTERN 1/2 OF THAT STATE IS
DIMINISHING AS THE SHORTWAVE THAT BROUGHT THE RAINFALL MOVES
ACROSS THE EXTREME EASTERN INTERIOR AND INTO CANADA TODAY.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS RANGING FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES HAVE FALLEN OVER THE
WESTERN INTERIOR SINCE THURSDAY. THE HEAVY RAINFALL HAS BEEN A
CAUSE FOR CONCERN BECAUSE OF THE THREAT OF RIVER FLOODING IT HAS
CREATED OVER THE REGION. ALTHOUGH NO FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED SO
FAR, FLOODING IS STILL POSSIBLE TODAY AS RUNOFF WATERS DRAIN INTO
THE SMALL RIVERS AND STREAMS.

THE RAINFALL HAS BEEN QUITE A DISAPPOINTMENT OVER THE EASTERN
INTERIOR WITH ONLY VERY LIGHT AMOUNTS BEING REPORTED ACROSS THE
AREA, NOT MUCH HELP IN PUTTING OUT ANY FIRES. THE RAINS ARE
EXPECTED TO END ENTIRELY TODAY WITH CLOUDS CLEARING TONIGHT AND
SUNDAY MORNING AS VERY STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT BUILDS OVER ALL
OF NORTHERN ALASKA TODAY AND TONIGHT. MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES, WARM
TEMPS, AND VERY LIGHT WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE FORECAST FOR
ALL OF NEXT WEEK AS THE HIGH CENTER REMAINS OVER THE STATE. THIS
DRY WEATHER WILL LIKELY ALLOW THE FIRES TO BECOME MORE ACTIVE AND
THE THREAT OF SMOKE RETURNING BACK TO THE INTERIOR. THE ONLY
THINGS THAT MIGHT INHIBIT THE FIRE BEHAVIOR WOULD BE THE VERY
LIGHT WINDS AND STRONG INVERSIONS THAT ARE NOW FORMING EACH NIGHT
AS THE NIGHTS GET LONGER. THE ONLY CHANCE OF SIGNIFICANT RAIN THIS
WEEK IS ALONG THE WEST COAST AS WEAK SHORTWAVES MOVE NORTHWARD
OVER THE REGION.

.HYDRO...RUNOFF FROM RECENT RAINS OVER THE WESTERN INTERIOR COULD
PRODUCE MINOR FLOODING TODAY.
.FIRE WEATHER...WARMING TEMPS AND FALLING RHS TODAY AND SUNDAY
WILL LIKELY ALLOW FIRE ACTIVITY TO INCREASE.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...FLOOD WARNING TODAY
          ZONES 210..211..212..214..215..216..217..218..219
MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVY TODAY 9B
         GALE WARNING TONIGHT 9B

MP AUG 04

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 13, 8:30 AM AST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
930 AM ADT FRI AUG 13 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0915 AM     HEAVY RAIN       KALTAG                  64.34N 158.69W
08/13/2004  2.00 INCH                           AK   CO-OP OBSERVER

            2.00 INCHES IN PAST 24 HOURS WITH 3 INCHES FALLEN IN THE
            PAST 2 DAYS.

&&

ABE

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys

When: August 13, 1:00 PM AST to 9:00 PM AST
Where: Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys 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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, August 2004

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: 5419594.