Dust Devil, Middle Tanana Valley
- When
- May 19, 5:15 PM AST to 5:25 PM AST
- Where
- Middle Tanana Valley County, College
- Property damage
- $300
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
Dust Devil in Alaska, May 19, 2005
A dust devil destroyed a visqueen greenhouse at the University of Alaska's Georgeson Botanical Gardens.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $300
- 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.
A dust devil destroyed a visqueen greenhouse at the University of Alaska's Georgeson Botanical Gardens.
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 19, 1:30 PM AST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 19, 1:30 PM AST, 3 hours 45 minutes before
NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM ADT THU MAY 19 2005
.DISCUSSION...THE WAVE BETWEEN PARC AND PABA AT THIS TIME HAS
TAKEN A MORE NORTHERLY TRACK AS EARLIER EXPECTED. IT WILL BE A
WEATHER MAKER MAINLY FOR THE ARCTIC ZONES AND ZONE 218. EXPECT
IT TO WEAKEN AS IT CONTINUES NORTHWEST TO PASS NORTH OF PABR
AROUND 10 AM FRI. THERE IS SOMEWHAT COLDER AIR AT LOW LEVELS
MOVING IN OVER THE ARCTIC COAST WITH THIS THING...SO WE WILL
LIKELY SEE AN END TO THE PATCHY FREEZING DRIZZLE.
FARTHER SOUTH EXPECT MAINLY ISOLATED AND DIURNAL SHOWERS OR
THUNDERSTORMS OVER INTERIOR ZONES AND TONIGHT.
THE GFS AND ETA HAVE CHANGED THEIR TUNE CONCERNING THE NEXT WAVE
TO TRANSIT MAINLAND ALASKA...AND THEY DIVERGE IN THE SHORT TERM
AS WELL. THE GFS IS BRINGING THIS ONE MORE OR LESS DUE WEST...TO
BE NEAR FAIRBANKS AT 4AM SAT. THE ETA...THOUGH NOT AS FAR NORTH AS
EARLIER RUNS...IS STILL TAKING ITS TRACK FARTHER TO THE NORTH (TO
HAVE IT BETWEEN PAEG AND CYOC AT 4AM SAT). WE ARE BUYING THE GFS...
THOUGH TO BE FAIR THE ETA LOOKS MORE LIKE THE ECMF.
.HYDRO...FLOOD WARNING FOR ALAKANUK ZONE 214
FLOOD WATCH FOR ZONE 219...KOYUKUK RIVER BELOW HUGHES.
.FIRE WEATHER...NO SIGNIFICANT ISSUES.
.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY ZONES 201-04
MARINE...BRISK WIND ADVISORY AREA 11B
DJH MAY 05Event by event
1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Dust Devil
- A small rotating column of dust from surface heating that caused damage or injury.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, May 19, 2005
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Kentucky, May 19 to 20, 2005
- Lightning Strikes in Indiana, May 19, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 19 to 20, 2005
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Illinois, May 19, 2005
- Lightning Strike in Florida, May 19, 2005
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Ohio, May 19, 2005
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Indiana, May 19, 2005
- Hail in Washington, May 19, 2005
- Flood and Hail in Illinois, May 19, 2005
- Flooding and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, May 19, 2005
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 19, 2005
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: 5450050.