Name: Flood in Alaska, September 22 to 23, 2005
Start: 2005-09-22T16:00
End: 2005-09-23T18:00
Location: Alaska

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 storm rapidly intensified to 962 MB as it moved from the central Aleutians to the northern Bering Sea Thursday afternoon. The storm produced strong southwest wind across the southern Bering Sea into the Bering Sea coast of Alaska. The resulting surge combined with high tides resulted in coastal flooding from Nunivak Island north into Norton Sound and the Bering Strait late in the afternoon September 22nd. Rough surf and tidal overflow persisted trough Friday September 23rd due to the storm remaining in the northern Bering sea as it slowly weakened. At Hooper Bay the water reached the housing area and several homes and storage buildings were damaged by strong wind. Along the main road in Hopper Bay 300 ft of gravel was eroded.Minor Flooding reported was reported by the the Village Elder at Scammon Bay. Several people were trapped on a boat overnight because the water was too rough to rescue them. They were rescued the following morning with no injuries. The water level was at least 4 feet and water washed over the road which stands at 3 feet. The water reached the housing area, damage unknown until water recedes. At Quinhagak, all low lying areas flooded.

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 Sep 22, 1:00 PM AST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 22, 1:00 PM AST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
200 PM ADT THU SEP 22 2005

.DISCUSSION...SYNOPTIC NCEP MODEL INITIALIZATIONS VERY GOOD. FORECAST
TRENDS SIMILAR AND REASONABLE.

.EAST...FRONTAL TROUGH WITH DEEP SW FLOW MOVES INTO SOUTHCENTRAL THIS
AFTERNOON AND TO THE COPPER RIVER BASIN/EASTERN GULF TONIGHT.
PRESSURE GRADIENTS OVER SOUTHCENTRAL AND COPPER RIVER ARE PRODUCING
MODERATE GAP WINDS THROUGHOUT THE REGION. EXPECT WINDS TO DIMINISH
TONIGHT WITH PASSAGE OF FRONTAL TROUGH. PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL
INCREASE ONCE AGAIN OVER SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA WITH NEXT WAVE TO MOVE
INTO BRISTOL BAY FRI. MODELS TEND TO LOCK ONTO VORTICITY MAX IN UPPER
LEVELS WITH ONLY MINOR REFLECTION SHOWING UP AT THE SURFACE. EXPECT
WAVE TO MOVE INTO SW ALASKA FRI AFTERNOON. HIGH WIND WARNING
CONDITIONS POSSIBLE TURNAGAIN ARM AND HIGHER ELEVATIONS ANCHORAGE
BOWL ALONG WITH STRONG GAP WIND CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE AREA. WINDS
SHOULD DIMINISH SAT AS LOW WEAKENS OVER THE WESTERN INTERIOR.

.WEST...UPPER 960S MB LOW NEAR SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND WELL FORECAST BY
MODELS MOVES OVER NE RUSSIA TONIGHT. STRONG SW FLOW ON BACKSIDE OF
CENTER OVER THE CENTRAL/EASTERN BERING SEA WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH FRI.
COASTAL FLOOD POTENTIAL STILL LOOKS REASONABLE FROM CAPE NEWENHAM TO
DALL POINT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH SURGES FORECAST TO BE A
COUPLE OF FEET ABOVE MAX ASTRONOMICAL TIDE LEVELS. MAX TIDES DIMINISH
FRI AS WELL AS THREAT. DEEP SW FLOW CONTINUES THROUGH THE WEEKEND
OVER WESTERN ALASKA...SO LOW FOR PERIODS OF RAIN TO CONTINUE.
PROBABLY SEE SNOW LEVELS LOWERING ALONG MOUNTAINS AS 850 MB TEMPS
COOL SUN.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WATCH FRI ZONE 101. COASTAL FLOOD WARNING ZONE 155
         AND 161.
MARINE...SEE LATEST PACKAGE.

RMC SEP 05

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Kuskokwim Delta

When: September 22, 4:00 PM AST to September 23, 6:00 PM AST
Where: Kuskokwim Delta forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

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, September 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: 5468934.