Alaska, 2006

Flooding in Alaska, August 18 to 19, 2006

August 18 to 19, 2006 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Heavy rains produced flooding of small streams in the Alaska Range. Three to five inches of rain was reported across the central and western Alaska Range, with the State of Alaska Department of Transportation Camp at Trims reporting 5 inches.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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.

Heavy rains produced flooding of small streams in the Alaska Range. Three to five inches of rain was reported across the central and western Alaska Range, with the State of Alaska Department of Transportation Camp at Trims reporting 5 inches. The Richardson Highway (zone 226) was reduced to one lane near Milepost 207, north of Fielding Lake, overnight but both lanes were opened by noon on the 19th. No washouts were reported on the Parks highway in zone 225, however immediately to the south washouts in 4 locations on the Parks highway occurred the morning of the 19th.

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 Aug 18, 1:24 PM AST, 7 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 1:24 PM AST, 7 hours 36 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
224 PM ADT FRI AUG 18 2006

.DISCUSSION...
THE EMPHASIS ON TODAYS WATCH HAS BEEN THE FLOOD
WARNING SITUATION FOR ZONES 225-226.

UPPER AIR PROGS ARE IN GENERAL AGREEMENT THROUGH
00Z SUNDAY...AFTER THAT WE BEGIN TO SEE SOME
DIVERGENCE IN THE SOLUTIONS.

VERY MOIST UPSLOPE FLOW CONTINUES OVER THE ALASKA RANGE
IN ZONES 225-226. ADDITIONALLY THERE IS LARGE SCALE UPLIFT
WHICH SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO OVERRIDE THE DOWNSLOPE
WESTERN ZONE 223- 224.

GOES IR LOOP IS SHOWING ONLY VERY SLOW MOVEMENT
OF THE MOISTURE FEED...AND RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
OVER THE ALASKA RANGE INTO SATURDAY. THE RAIN WILL
BE HEAVY OVER THE SOUTHERN SLOPES THROUGH TONIGHT.
CLOUD TOP TEMPERATURES IN THE MOISTURE CONTINUE
TO BE RATHER COLD...-45C TO -55C.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAY 3 AND 4...NONE.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...
HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY OCCURRING OVER MUCH OF THE
SOUTHERN SLOPES OF THE ALASKA RANGE. AT TRIMS CAMP...
3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN DURING THE LAST 10
HOURS...INCLUDING 1.1 INCHES DURING A 2-HOUR PERIOD.
ANOTHER 3 INCHES OR MORE COULD FALL AT TRIMS BEFORE THE
EVENT ENDS. HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO BEING REPORTED AT THE RUTH
GLACIER RAWS...WHICH IS OUT OF OUR FORECAST AREA BUT GIVES
SOME INDICATION THAT THE HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE PROBABLY NOT
ISOLATED. FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR SMALL STREAMS IN THE
SOUTHERN SLOPES OF THE ALASKA RANGE IN ZONES 225-226.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ245.
FLOOD WARNING FOR AKZ225-AKZ226.

&&

RF AUG 06

Event by event

2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Denali

When
August 18, 9:00 PM AST to August 19, 10:00 AM AST
Where
Denali County, Central Portion
Reported by
DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

Flood, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng

When
August 18, 9:00 PM AST to August 19, 10:00 AM AST
Where
Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng County, Countywide
Reported by
DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

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 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, August 2006

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: 5525730, 5525731.