Name: Hail in Alaska, June 15, 2005
Start: 2005-06-15T19:23
End: 2005-06-15T19:53
Location: Alaska

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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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 AFC wrote it up.

A strong thunderstorm moved off the Alaska Range and merged with a weaker thunderstorm that moved off the Talkeetna Mountains 10 miles east of Talkeetna. A spotter reported golf ball size hail and trees blown down along with flooding basements of a couple of local businesses, but this did not result in any property damage. Damage in the Talkeetna area was inconsequential, primarily some flower gardens were destroyed. The storm also produced marble sized hail at the McKinley Princess Lodge along the Chulitna River and resulted in interrupted phone and television service through Friday June 17th.

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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 15, 4:00 PM AST, 3 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 15, 4:00 PM AST, 3 hours 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 PM ADT WED JUN 15 2005

.DISCUSSION...
THE OMEGA BLOCK OVER THE MAINLAND WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE END OF
THIS WEEK BEFORE SLOWLY BEING PUSHED OFF TO THE EAST THIS WEEKEND.
THEREFORE, NO MAJOR CHANGES IN THE SHORT TERM FORECAST ARE EXPECTED.
MAIN CONCERNS REMAIN THE CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL OVER THE INLAND REGIONS
ALONG THE THERMAL TROUGH EXTENDING ALONG THE ALASKA RANGE TO THE
LOWER YUKON VALLEY. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY STARTED IN THE
NORTHEAST KUSKOKWIM VALLEY AND ALONG THE ALASKA RANGE FROM WINDY PASS
EAST. THE REMNANTS OF THE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN
KUSKOKWIM VALLEY APPEAR TO BE SHADING THAT REGION TODAY AND THUS
INHIBITING THE CONVECTIVE DEVELOP. CONDITIONS APPEAR TO REMAIN
SIMILAR THURSDAY WITH REGARD TO CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL. THE VERTICAL
TOTALS AND K-INDEX ALONG WITH CAPE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT A VERY GOOD
POSSIBILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE COPPER RIVER BASIN THURSDAY WITH
A MORE LIMITED CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AS YOU MOVE WEST TO THE
KUSKOKWIM VALLEY.

FURTHER WEST WE HAVE THE LARGE LOW TRACKING TO THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS
WITH THE ASSOCIATED FRONT OUT IN ADVANCE OF THIS LOW THROUGH THE
UNALASKA AREA. WIND IS NOT A MAJOR FACTOR WITH THIS LOW, MAINLY SMALL
CRAFT CONDITIONS OR LOWER. POST FRONTAL CONDITIONS HAVE SIGNIFICANT
LOW CLOUDS AND LIGHT RAIN OR DRIZZLE, SO THE MAIN ISSUE WILL BE IN
THE AVIATION REALM. LOW CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES WILL BE THE PROBLEM
AREAS FOR THE ALEUTIANS FROM CAPE SARICHEF WEST. THE FRONT IS SLOWLY
MOVING EAST BUMPING INTO THE BLOCKING RIDGE AND WEAKENING. WE EXPECT
THE FRONT TO BE ALONG THE BERING SEA COAST LATE THURSDAY NEARLY
DISSIPATED.

IN THE LONGER TERM A WAVE FORMING SOUTH OF THE MAIN LOW WILL BE
MOVING NORTHEAST ALONG THE WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY TO THE SAND POINT
AREA FRI EVENING. THIS LOW IS SPAWNING OFF OF A TROPICAL STORM NOW
OFF OF THE JAPANESE COAST AND SHOULD HAVE AMPLE MOISTURE WITH IT. BY
SATURDAY THE MOISTURE TRAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LOW EXTENDS 1800
MILES TO THE SOUTHWEST. THE MAIN PROBLEM WITH THE EXTENDED FORECAST
IS A TIMING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE GFS AND MESO-ETA. THE GFS IS MUCH
FASTER IN THE MOVEMENT OF THE LOW AND FRONT HAVING THE FRONT THROUGH
SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA FRI NIGHT AND SATURDAY WHILE THE MESO ETA IS
JUST GETTING THE FRONT INTO SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA SAT AFTERNOON. ONE
WOULD NORMALLY EXPECT THE LOW TO PROGRESS SLOWLY SINCE WE HAVE A
BLOCKING RIDGE, BUT THIS SYSTEM IS OF TROPICAL ORIGIN AND THEY
TYPICALLY HAVE ENOUGH ENERGY TO DISPLACE THE RIDGE. EITHER WAY, WE
EXPECT THE PATTERN TO SHIFT FOR THE WEEKEND FROM THE PREVAILING HOT
DRY PATTERN TO A MORE COOL MOIST PATTERN.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...NONE.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

SAM JUN 05

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Susitna Valley

When: June 15, 7:23 PM AST to 7:53 PM AST
Where: Susitna Valley County, 10 mi E of Talkeetna
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 62.333, -149.783

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, June 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: 5453759.