Alaska, 2005

Flood in Alaska, May 1, 2005

May 1, 2005 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The lower Chatanika went overbank from an ice jam 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.

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

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 30, 2:00 PM AST, 10 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 2:00 PM AST, 10 hours before
NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
300 PM ADT SAT APR 30 2005

.DISCUSSION...
SHORT AND MEDIUM RANGE MODEL SOLUTIONS SHOW SIMILAR 500 MB
HEIGHT FIELDS AND 850 MB TEMPERATURES OVER NORTHERN ALASKA
THROUGH TUESDAY. AN UPPER LOW IS PROGGED TO SWING SOUTHEASTWARD
OUT OF THE ARCTIC TUESDAY THEN CURVES EASTWARD ACROSS THE
BEAUFORT SEA. BOTH GFS AND ECMWF SUGGESTING SOME REBUILDING
OF THE RIDGE...BUT MUCH LOWER HEIGHTS...AND SOME WARMING NEAR THE
END OF THE WEEK.

ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE OVER MUCH OF THE INTERIOR
THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEKEND...WITH GRADUAL COOLING TREND EARLY
NEXT WEEK AS THE UPPER RIDGE WEAKENS. TEMPERATURES FOR THE
UPCOMING WEEK HOWEVER ARE EXPECTED TO BE A LITTLE ABOVE SEASONAL
NORMALS.

.HYDRO...RAPID SNOW MELT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH
MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THIS PRESUMABLY HAS CAUSED SOME
PROBLEMS AT MILE 110 OF THE ELLIOTT AND MILE 5 OF THE DALTON
HIGHWAYS WITH ROAD WASHOUTS. ICE ALSO CONTINUES TO JAM ON THE
TANANA NEAR MANLEY HOT SPRINGS.

.FIRE WEATHER...LOW AFTERNOON HUMIDITIES WILL LIKELY PERSIST WITH
MINIMUM HUMIDITIES SUNDAY IN THE UPPER TEENS TO LOWER 20 PERCENT
RANGE OVER THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR WITH STRONGEST
WINDS...25 TO 30 MPH...FORECASTED ACROSS DELTANA AND TANANA
FLATS...EASTERN ALASKA...UPPER TANANA VALLEY AND 40 MILE COUNTRY.
THIS HAS PROMPTED THE ISSUANCE OF A FIRE WEATHER WATCH LATE SUNDAY
MORNING THROUGH THE EVENING FOR MENTIONED AREA.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...ZONE 222 FLOOD WATCH FOR LITTLE CHENA RIVER
         ZONE 222 FLOOD WARNING LOWER CHATANIKA RIVER
         ZONE 201 DENSE FOG ADVISORY
         ZONE 202 DENSE FOG ADVISORY
         ZONE 203 DENSE FOG ADVISORY
         ZONE 204 DENSE FOG ADVISORY
         ZONE 209 DENSE FOG ADVISORY

MARINE...ZONE 295 GALE
         ZONE 205 GALE

FIRE WEATHER...ZONE 223 RED FLAG WARNING TIL 9 PM TONIGHT
               ZONE 224 RED FLAG WARNING TIL 9 PM TONIGHT
               ZONE 226 RED FLAG WARNING TIL 9 PM TONIGHT
               ZONE 223 FIRE WEATHER WATCH SUNDAY
               ZONE 224 FIRE WEATHER WATCH SUNDAY
               ZONE 226 FIRE WEATHER WATCH SUNDAY

JHD/RF APR 05

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Middle Tanana Valley

When
May 1, 12:00 AM AST to 9:00 AM 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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 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: 5449328.