Flood in Alaska, April 28 to 30, 2005

Name: Flood in Alaska, April 28 to 30, 2005
Start: 2005-04-28T09:00
End: 2005-04-30T23:59
Location: Alaska

April 28 to 30, 2005 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The lower Chatanika went overbank twice from ice jams that formed downstream of a half-dozen or more cabins. Two of the cabins were 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.

The lower Chatanika went overbank twice from ice jams that formed downstream of a half-dozen or more cabins. Two of the cabins were flooded. Damage amount unknown. Event continued into May.

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 28, 5:00 AM AST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 28, 5:00 AM AST, 4 hours before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM ADT THU APR 28 2005

.DISCUSSION...
LATEST AVAILABLE MODEL RUNS SHOW SIMILAR 500 MB HEIGHT FIELDS
OUT THROUGH 3 DAYS AND ONLY MINOR DIFFERENCES IN THE 3-5 DAY
TIME FRAME. 580 DAM HIGH OVER CENTERED OVER THE CENTRAL BROOKS
RANGE WILL MOVE TO THE EASTERN BROOKS RANGE BY 00Z SUN WEAKENING
TO 577 DAM. RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO WEAKEN AND ELONGATE THROUGH
00Z TUE...WITH HEIGHTS FALLING TO 562-565 DAM BY 00Z TUE...STILL
WELL ABOVE THE SEASONAL NORMALS.

HIGH TEMPERATURES IN PARTS OF NORTHERN ALASKA TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY
COULD APPROACH OR BREAK RECORD VALUES. GRADUAL COOLING IS EXPECTED
FROM SUNDAY INTO NEXT WEEK AS THE RIDGE WEAKENS...BUT TEMPERATURES
WILL STILL BE ABOVE NORMALS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR.

MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES WILL PERSIST INTO EARLY WEEK OVER MUCH
OF NORTHRN ALASKA UNDER THE UPPER RIDGE.

SHORT RANGE SURFACE PROGS ARE SIMILAR. WINDS OVER THE WESTERN
ALASKAN COASTAL WATERS...SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND...AND THE BERING
STRAIT WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH TODAY AND TONIGHT.

WITH MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES FORECAST TO CONTINUE
INTO SATURDAY...RAPID SNOWMELT WILL CONTINUE...CONTINUING THE
HIGH RISK OF ADDITIONAL ICE JAM AND SNOWMELT FLOODING.

NORTHEAST WINDS 10-15 MPH ARE EXPECTED OVER MANY SECTIONS
OF THE INTERIOR...WITH AFTERNOON HUMIDITIES FALLING TO 15-30 PERCENT
TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY. FIRE WEATHER PROBLEMS ARE NOT EXPECTED
WITH SNOW COVER REMAINING PLENTIFUL AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND
WITH THE GROUND STILL MOIST AT LOWER ELEVATIONS. SUBSTANTIAL
REDUCTION OF THE HIGH ELEVATION SNOWPACK WILL LIKELY OCCUR DURING
THE NEXT WEEK.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...AKZ214 WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 500 AM THURSDAY SOUTH OF
                SCAMMON BAY.
         AKZ222 FLOOD WARNING FOR SALCHA AREA BETWEEN THE BOONDOX
                BAR AND STRINGER ROAD IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 PM ADT
                FRIDAY.
                FLOOD WATCH FOR LITTLE CHENA RIVER REMAINS IN
                EFFECT UNTIL 500 PM ADT FRIDAY.
                FLOOD ADVISORY FOR KOKOMO CREEK NEAR 38 MILE
                STEESE HIGHWAY IS IN EFECT UNTIL NOON ADT FRIDAY.
                FLOOD ADVISORY FOR CHATANIKA RIVER AT THE ELLIOTT
                HIGHWAY BRIDGE EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM ADT FRIDAY.
MARINE...PKZ295 BRISK WIND ADVISORY UNTIL THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
         PKZ205 BRISK WIND ADVISORY UNTIL THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
         PKZ210 BRISK WIND ADVISORY UNTIL LATE TONIGHT.

RF APR 05

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Middle Tanana Valley

When: April 28, 9:00 AM AST to April 30, 11:59 PM AST
Where: Middle Tanana Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO

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: 5446605.