Flood, Upper Koyukuk Valley
- When
- May 13, 4:00 PM AST to 11:00 PM AST
- Where
- Upper Koyukuk Valley County, Hughes
- Property damage
- $411,000
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
Flood in Alaska, May 13, 2006
An ice Jam formed 7 to 12 miles downstream from the village of Hughes on the Koyukuk River, causing flooding of the village on the 13th. The airport's connection from the apron to the runway was washed out and a few portions of the apron were damaged.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $411,000
- 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.
An ice Jam formed 7 to 12 miles downstream from the village of Hughes on the Koyukuk River, causing flooding of the village on the 13th. The airport's connection from the apron to the runway was washed out and a few portions of the apron were damaged. Water level was 1 to 3 feet around the village, with 5 homes flooded, the school was flooded, the city store was flooded, and the city office had water halfway up the entrance steps. The village greenhouse floated away.
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 13, 1:31 PM AST, 2 hours 29 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 13, 1:31 PM AST, 2 hours 29 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 231 PM ADT SAT MAY 13 2006 .DISCUSSION... UPPER AIR: STRONG CLOSED LOW OVER RUSSIA WILL MOVE ALONG 160E TO NORTH OF RUSSIA BY SUN EVENING. ANOTHER LOW WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE BERING SEA AND BE OVER THE CENTRAL BERING SEA NEAR 60N/180W TUE AFTERNOON. HIGH PRESSURE OVER NORTHWEST CANADA WITH RIDGE EXTENDING TO THE EAST HALF OF NORTHERN ALASKA WILL PERSIST THROUGH TUE. CLOSED LOW OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL REMAIN SOUTH OF 50N THROUGH SUN. ANOTHER LOW WILL FORM OVER THE NORTHERN GULF ON MON BUT WILL WEAKEN ON TUE. SURFACE: LOW PRESSURE OVER NORTHERN RUSSIA...NEAR 160E...WILL DRIFT A LITTLE NORTH AND WEAKEN CONSIDERABLY THROUGH SUN. AN ASSOCIATED FRONT EXTENDING FROM THE WESTERN ARCTIC COAST TO KOTZEBUE AND NORTON SOUNDS TO SOUTH OF KUSKOKWIM BAY WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY THEN DISSIPATE BY MON AFTERNOON. ANOTHER LOW MOVING EAST WILL BE OVER THE FAR WESTERN ALEUTIANS LATE SUN NIGHT THEN MAY REACH THE CENTRAL BERING SEA MON NIGHT. WEAK RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE CENTRAL TO EASTERN INTERIOR ON SAT. THE LOW WILL WEAKEN AS IT REMAINS OVER THE CENTRAL BERING SEA ON WED. NORTH SLOPE: AN OCCLUDED FRONT OVER THE WESTERN ARCTIC COAST WILL DISSIPATE BY SUN MORNING. MOST OF THE WIND WITH THE FRONT WILL REMAIN WEST OF BARROW. MODERATE SOUTHERLY FLOW FROM BARROW WEST WILL KEEP FOG AND FLURRIES TO A MINIMUM. THE BEAUFORT SEA COAST WILL BE TOO FAR FROM THE SOUTHERLY FLOW TO PREVENT FOG FROM FORMING OVERNIGHT. WEST COAST: PRECIPITATION WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH TONIGHT THROUGH SUN NIGHT AS THE FRONT DISSIPATES ALONG ABOUT 162W. BY MON EVENING...WINDS WILL INCREASE TO BRISK LEVELS OVER MARINE AREAS OF SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND AND BERING STRAIT. PRECIPITATION WILL BE LIGHT. INTERIOR: UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE WILL SUPPRESS SHOWER ACTIVITY OVER THE EAST HALF OF NORTHERN ALASKA THROUGH TONIGHT. LOW PRESSURE FORMING OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN INTERIOR MAY PRODUCE ISOLATED AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS ON MON AND TUE FROM THE EASTERN ALASKA RANGE TO THE 40 MILE COUNTRY. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225- PKZ230. && MAY 06
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flooding in Massachusetts, May 13 to 15, 2006
- Flood in Maine, May 13 to 16, 2006
- Flooding in New Hampshire, May 13 to 16, 2006
- Flood in New Hampshire, May 13 to 15, 2006
- Coastal Flood in Maine, May 13 to 16, 2006
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, May 13 to 14, 2006
- Lightning Strike in New Jersey, May 13, 2006
- Lightning Strike in Delaware, May 13, 2006
- Coastal Flood in New Hampshire, May 13 to 14, 2006
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, May 13 to 14, 2006
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 13, 2006
- Hail in Alabama, May 13, 2006
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 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: 5512447.