Name: Flood in Alaska, May 14 to 19, 2005
Start: 2005-05-14T20:00
End: 2005-05-19T03:00
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $500,000
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.

High amounts of snowmelt with river ice partially in place caused the Yukon river to rise above its banks at the village of Emmonak in combination with an ice jam which formed nearby downstream on the Yukon River. The river flooded a city public works building, and washed out a section of the road to the airport, making it impassable. A fish processing plant and city dock was flooded, along with some homes. Emmonak has no highways leading to/from it, so air transportation is the only means of supplying the village. The event is rated as a 30-year flood. Floodwaters submerged 6 fishing vessels containing hazardous materials which were leaking the oil, etc onto the river water at the village. Damage amounts are estimated and include a cost of $165,000 for HAZMAT cleanup.

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 May 14, 1:30 PM AST, 6 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 14, 1:30 PM AST, 6 hours 30 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM ADT SAT MAY 14 2005

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS ARE IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT. THE ONLY REAL DIFFERENCE IS
THE AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION THAT ETA IS ADVERTISING FOR THE
CENTRAL INTERIOR. FOR THIS REASON PREFER THE OVERALL SOLUTION OF
THE GFS.

HIGH PRESSURE OVER FAR EAST RUSSIA COMBINED WITH LOW PRESSURE OVER
THE INTERIOR OF THE STATE IS RAMPING UP THE WINDS ALONG THE WEST
COAST AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE STRONG FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

A WEAK UPPER LEVEL EASTERLY WAVE WILL DEVELOP OVER THE
SOUTHEASTERN INTERIOR BY SUNDAY MORNING AND MOVE WESTWARD TO THE
WEST COAST BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. BELIEVE THAT THE PRECIPITATION
AMOUNTS WILL NOT BE AS GREAT AS ADVERTISED ALTHOUGH THE POTENTIAL
FOR LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
SUBSTANTIALLY ENHANCED BECAUSE OF THE UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE
ADVECTION AND THE LIFT PROVIDED BY THE UPPER LEVEL WAVE.

LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES TO PERSIST OVER THE INTERIOR WITH THE
THERMAL TROUGH.

ON THE NORTHWEST COAST...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL PERSIST
THROUGH MONDAY. HIGH PRESSURE IN FAR EAST RUSSIA IS SUPPLYING COLD
AIR AND A TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE AREA. WINDS AND BLOWING
SNOW WILL PERSIST AS WELL. THE COLD AIR WILL RETREAT FROM THE EAST
BACK TO NEAR BARROW BY MONDAY WITH THE EASTERLY WAVE.

.HYDRO...FLOOD WATCH...214 FOR ALAKANUK AND EMMONAK THROUGH SUNDAY
AFTERNOON.
.FIRE WEATHER...RED FLAG WARNING...223

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORY...207...213.
MARINE...GALE...9B...10B. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY/BRISK WIND
ADVISORY...10A...9A.

CF MAY 05

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Yukon Delta

When: May 14, 8:00 PM AST to May 19, 3:00 AM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Property damage: $500,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5449330.