Name: Storm Surge in Alaska, September 23 to 25, 2004
Start: 2004-09-23T00:00
End: 2004-09-25T03:00
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.

A low pressure center tracked northeast over the southern Bering Sea on the 21st and then curved north over inland western Alaska on the 22nd; and low pressure remained over north interior Alaska and the North Slope of Alaska through the 25th. This set up northwest flow over the southern Chukchi Sea creating minor coastal flooding and some shore erosion at Shishmaref. About 1 foot of coastline was removed by the erosion from waves. Though reported wind speeds were not available, winds of 30 to 40 mph were forecast during the event.

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 Sep 22, 1:30 PM AST, 10 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 22, 1:30 PM AST, 10 hours 30 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM ADT WED SEP 22 2004

.DISCUSSION...COLD VERTICALLY STACKED UPPER LOW SEEN ON GOES/POES
IMAGERY DROPPING S FROM ARCTIC INTO CHUKCHI SEA HAS POLAR LOW
VISUAL SIGNATURES WITH ROTATING BANDS OF SNOW SHOWERS, ETC...

THIS LOW FORECAST BY ALL THE MODELS TO DEEPEN TO AROUND 510 DM
THU AS IT SLIDES S, THEN E OVER WRN INTERIOR THU NIGHT...THEN E
ACROSS THE N-CENTRAL INTERIOR FRI/SAT. AT THIS TIME...PREFER
ETA/MESO-ETA FOR DETAILS/TIMING OF PRECIP. AND WEATHER WITH THIS
SINCE GFS HAS USUAL BROAD-BRUSH OF MODERATE-HEAVY PRECIP. SPLASHED
ACROSS MUCH OF INTERIOR...ABSENT OF TERRAIN INFLUENCES.

THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW SHOWS UP AS 987MB NEAR PAGA AT 18Z.
OPEN-WAVED FRONTAL SYSTEM WITH IT WILL OCCLUDE SLIGHTLY AND SLIDE
E SLOWLY TONIGHT ACROSS THE WRN AND CENTRAL INTERIOR...REACHING
ABOUT A PALR-PFYU-PARL-PABI LINE BY 18Z THU AND TO CANADIAN
BORDER BY 03Z FRI. 850MB TEMPS. WILL DROP QUICKLY BEHIND FRONT
CHANGING -RA TO SNOW THU AFTERNOON/EVENING. COOL SW-W LOW/MID
FLOW WILL REMAIN OVER INTERIOR FRI/SAT AS UPPER LOW WEAKENS AND
SLOWLY SHIFTS E. WEAK UPPER RIDGING WILL DEVELOP OVER W COAST FRI
AND SAT BEHIND UPPER LOW...WHICH WILL HELP SLOWLY DECREASE N AND
NE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS.

W COAST: AS LOW DROPS FURTHER S AND E...CAA WILL INCREASE N AND NE
SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS CONSIDERABLY ALONG CHUKCHI SEA COAST.
HENCE COASTAL FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT ZONE 207 FROM WALES TO CAPE
ESPENBERG. STRATIFORM PRECIP. IN FRONTAL BAND OVER WRN INTERIOR
WILL CHANGE TO -SN TONIGHT THEN BECOME MORE SHOWERY THU AS LOW
MOVES FURTHER S AND E.

N SLOPE: WITH LOW DROPPING S AND E OF THE AREA...GUSTY N TO NE
WINDS WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT AND CONTINUE INTO THU AND FRI. HEAVY
SURF ADVISORY FOR 7 TO 10 FT. SEAS FROM PABR TO PITT POINT WILL
BE ISSUED FOR THU AFTERNOON THROUGH FRI. COLD AND BREEZY WEATHER
WITH SNOW SHOWERS THROUGH FRI WITH BRISK N TO NE LOW-LEVEL FLOW
AND CAA OVER WARM OPEN WATERS WILL BRING SOME ACCUMULATIONS.22

INTERIOR: HEAVY SNOW EVENT FOR BROOKS RANGE AND ITS S SLOPES
SHAPING UP TONIGHT THROUGH THU. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY
SNOW LOOKING GOOD FOR ZONES 218...NORTHERN 219...AND 206. MAY
NEED TO EXPAND THIS S AND E THU/THU NIGHT TO COVER UPLANDS OF
220 AND 224 AS SLOW MOVEMENT OF UPPER/SURFACE LOW COMBINES
WITH GOOD UPSLOPE SW TO W LOW/MID LEVEL FLOW AND 850 MB TEMPS.
OF -5 TO -9C. STEESE HIGHWAY SUMMITS WILL SEE SIGNIFICANT SNOW
AND BLOWING SNOW ISSUES LATE THU THROUGH FRI AS WRLY WINDS PICK
UP. SHOULD SEE SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATING SNOWS EVEN AT LOWER VALLEY
ELEVATIONS THU NIGHT INTO FRI.

.HYDRO...NO SIGNIFICANT ISSUES.
.FIRE WEATHER...ANY FIRE SUPPRESSION PERSONNEL STILL IN FIELD
 NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR COLDER WEATHER WITH SNOW AND
 DETERIORATING DRIVING CONDITIONS.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...COASTAL FLOOD WARNING ZONE 207 WALES TO CAPE
         ESPENBERG STARTING TONIGHT
         WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW TONIGHT INTO
         THU ZONES 218...N 219...AND 206
MARINE...SCA: ALL
         HEAVY SURF ADVISORY 11A BARROW TO PITT POINT

MAR SEP 04

Event by event

1 storm surge/tide. Local standard time, as filed.

Storm Surge/Tide, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: September 23, 12:00 AM AST to September 25, 3:00 AM AST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

What these are

Storm Surge/Tide: Water pushed ashore above the normal tide by a storm’s winds and low pressure.

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, September 2004 The 2004 hurricane season

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: 5424293.