Flood in Alaska, April 23 to 24, 2005

Name: Flood in Alaska, April 23 to 24, 2005
Start: 2005-04-23T06:49
End: 2005-04-24T11:09
Location: Alaska

April 23 to 24, 2005 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Kokomo Creek at Mile 38 of the Steese Highway flooded due to a high level of snowmelt and overrun from culverts still plugged with ice. One home and garage was flooded.

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.

Kokomo Creek at Mile 38 of the Steese Highway flooded due to a high level of snowmelt and overrun from culverts still plugged with ice. One home and garage was flooded.

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 Apr 23, 5:00 AM AST, 1 hour 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 23, 5:00 AM AST, 1 hour 49 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM ADT SAT APR 23 2005

.DISCUSSION...
ALOFT...STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER NORTHEAST PACIFIC...SOUTHEAST AK
AND NORTH B.C. LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER RUSSIAN ARCTIC SOUTH TO
WESTERN BERING SEA WITH STRONG TROUGH OVER EASTERN BERING SEA AND
SW AK COAST...THIS TROUGH WILL MOVE NORTHEAST THROUGH SUN AM AND
INTO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY OF CANADA 00Z MONDAY...AS IT WILL GET
CAUGHT IN 100 TO 120 KT JET FROM KING SALMON TO MCGRATH TO KODIAK
THIS MORNING. THEN THE HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD NORTHWEST OVER
EASTERN AK MONDAY..WHILE A WEAKER TROUGH MOVES NORTH OVER FAR
WESTERN AK.

SURFACE...1005 MB LOW NORTH OF POINT LAY MOVING TO 300 MILES NORTH
OF PRUDHOE BAY 12Z SUN AT 1012 MB THEN FILLING. FRONTAL BOUNDARY
FROM EAGLE TO TALKEETNA TO KODIAK ISLAND WITH WEAK LOW JUST TO THE
SOUTH...LOW WILL MOVE ALONG FRONT TO EAGLE 12Z SUNDAY AND CONTINUE
NORTH THEREAFTER. HIGH PRESSURE SOUTH OF EASTERN ALEUTIANS WILL
MOVE NORTHEAST AND BUILD INTO A 1035 MB CENTER COVERING EASTERN AK
AND FAR WESTERN CANADA 12Z MON. 984 MB LOW MOVING NORTH INTO
WESTERN BERING SEA THROUGH MONDAY MORNING WITH ASSOCIATED
OCCLUSION MOVING NORTH TO SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND AND NUNIVAK ISLAND
12Z MONDAY THEN DISSIPATING.

MODELS...IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT ON FEATURES AT SURFACE AND ALOFT.
ETA NOT VERY DEEP ON LOW SOUTH OF KODIAK MOVING INTO EASTERN
INTERIOR HOWEVER GFS IS LIKELY KEEPING IT TOO DEEP OVER LAND.

NORTH SLOPE...STILL A MODERATE PRESSURE GRADIENT ON SOUTH AND
SOUTHEAST FLANK OF SURFACE LOW NORTH OF POINT LAY SO HAVE KEPT
BROOKS RANGE WIND ADVISORIES GOING UNTIL NOON. THIS DOWNSLOPE
FLOW SHOULD HELP BOOST TEMPS ALONG THE COAST TODAY...TEMPS GOT
TO 40 ON INLAND PLAIN FRIDAY. AS UPPER TROUGH PASSES THROUGH
TONIGHT AND SUNDAY AM...EXPECT DECREASING CLOUDS AND COOLER TEMPS
ESPECIALLY SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY AM.

WESTERN AK...HAVE ENDED ALL WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES THIS MORNING
AS SNOW IS WINDING DOWN...AND WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE TO SHOWERS
THROUGH THE DAY. WINDS OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS DIMINISHING THIS AM.
INCOMING OCCLUSION SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY SENDING CLOUDS AND EAST
WINDS NORTH OVER AREA...WITH SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW HIT MAINLY ZONE
213. THINK FACTORS ARE TOO MARGINAL AT THIS POINT TO PUT OUT A
BLIZZARD WATCH FOR SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND SUN NIGHT AS OCCLUSION
IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN ENROUTE.

CENTRAL/ERN INTERIOR...CLOUDS INCREASING TODAY AHEAD OF UPPER
TROUGH AND FRONTAL LOW MOVING NORTHEAST...THEN A SHOT OF SNOW
SHOWERS AND SOME RAIN SHOWERS TONIGHT AND EARLY SUN AS THEY MOVE
NORTHEAST ACROSS AREA...ZONES 226 AND 224 STAYING ON THE DRY SIDE
MOSTLY...THANKS TO DOWNSLOPE OFF AK RANGE. AFTER THAT EXPECT
DECREASING CLOUDS AND WARMING HIGH TEMPS AS UPPER HIGH RAPIDLY
BUILDS IN.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORY...205 206.
MARINE...GALE...SUNDAY PKZ295. BRISK WIND ADVISORY...PKZ200

JL APR 05

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Middle Tanana Valley

When: April 23, 6:49 AM AST to April 24, 11:09 AM AST
Where: Middle Tanana Valley forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, April 2005

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: 5446606.