Flood in Alaska, November 11 to 16, 2004

Name: Flood in Alaska, November 11 to 16, 2004
Start: 2004-11-11T05:00
End: 2004-11-16T11:00
Location: Alaska

November 11 to 16, 2004 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An ice jam formed on the Tanana River in the Salcha area and backed up water into the Sewell subdivision, flooding about 8 homes. Residents of one home were evacuated.

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.

An ice jam formed on the Tanana River in the Salcha area and backed up water into the Sewell subdivision, flooding about 8 homes. Residents of one home were evacuated. Although the water subsided slowly through the 16th, minor flooding recurred into December.

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 Nov 10, 2:30 PM AST, 14 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 10, 2:30 PM AST, 14 hours 30 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM AST WED NOV 10 2004

.DISCUSSION...THE 985 MB LOW OVER KUSKOKWIM BAY WILL MOVE NORTH
AND WEAKEN TO BE ABOUT 1004 MB BETWEEN PABE AND PASM AT 3PM THU.
IT WILL LIKELY FILL TO A SURFACE TROUGH THU NIGHT THOUGH THE
ASSOCIATED TROUGH ALOFT WILL NOT LIFT OUT OVER THE WESTERN
INTERIOR UNTIL FRI.

CONSENSUS AMONG THE MODELS IS BETTER NOW CONCERNING THE NEXT
LOW TO MOVE INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA. EXPECT IT TO REMAIN WELL
SOUTH OVER THE GULF THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT...THOUGH THERE MAY BE
A FRONTAL WAVE ASSOCIATED WITH IT OVER THE NORTHERN GULF ON SAT.
SOME MODEST OVERRUNNING POTENTIAL IN THE SOUTHEAST INTERIOR FROM
THIS SYSTEM BEGINING FRI.

MODEL CONSENSUS REMAINS POOR CONCERNING THE LOW EXPECTED TO CROSS
KAMCHATKA FROM THE SEA OF OKHOTSK FRI EVENING...AS DOES THE
RUN-TO-RUN CONTINUITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL MODELS. EXPECT NO IMPACT
ON NORTHERN ALASKA TIL FRIDAY NIGHT IN ANY EVENT...EVEN IN ZONE
213.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING ZONES 223..225...226.
MARINE...SCA AND HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY AREAS 9A/B.

*** NOV 04

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Deltana and Tanana

When: November 11, 5:00 AM AST to November 16, 11:00 AM AST
Where: Deltana and Tanana forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, November 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: 5428002.