An ice jam formed downstream of Old Minto on the Tanana River on the 8th. at 3AM ADT on the 9th, flooding commenced at the Tanana Chiefs Corporation Old Minto Family Recovery Camp.
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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.
The episode as NWS AFG wrote it up.
An ice jam formed downstream of Old Minto on the Tanana River on the 8th. at 3AM ADT on the 9th, flooding commenced at the Tanana Chiefs Corporation Old Minto Family Recovery Camp. The five Tanana Chiefs employees were evacuated by Army helicopter early on the morning of the 9th. At 3am on the morning of the 9th a woman was stranded on a barge that was stuck in the ice jam near the Tolovana River at the confluence with the Tanana River. An Army helicopter rescued her. The roadhouse the woman owned with her husband at the mouth of the Tolovana was inundated with 4 feet of running water. Ice chunks the size of large trucks moved in around the structures. This is the first time anyone can recall flooding in this location (over 90 yrs). This has been historically known as a spot that does not flood. Damage amount is unknown as of report deadline.
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 8, 11:02 PM AKST, 2 hours 58 minutes earlier.
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 502 AM ADT FRI MAY 9 2008 .DISCUSSION... HE MODELS AND ENSEMBLES REMAIN IN REASONABLY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH INCREASING SPREAD BY EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH NOTABLE DIFFERENCES BOTH FROM RUN TO RUN AND FROM MODEL TO MODEL. THE MAIN LONG WAVE FEATURE OF INTEREST WILL CONTINUE TO BE A CLOSED LOW THAT IS CURRENTLY ACROSS THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS. MODELS ARE CONSISTENT IN LIFTING THE LOW NORTH TO NEAR SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND BY SATURDAY. ADDITIONAL PACIFIC ENERGY IN THE MAIN CORE OF WESTERLIES WILL CAUSE A NEW LOW TO DEVELOP SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS BY LATE IN THE WEEKEND. THE MODELS THAN BEGIN TO DIVERGE NEXT WEEK AS THERE WILL BE A COMPLEX INTERACTION BETWEEN THE LOWS. AS A STRONG DOWNSTREAM RIDGE DEVELOPS ALONG THE WEST COAST IT SHOULD ACT TO KEEP THE PATTERN HIGHLY AMPLIFIED WITH A LOW OR MULTIPLE LOW CENTERS ACROSS THE ALEUTIANS AND NORTHERN GULF OF ALASKA. NORTH OF THE LOW THERE SHOULD BE SOME RIDGING ACROSS THE INTERIOR INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE RIDGING WILL LIKELY LIFT OUT NEXT WEEK AS THE NEW UPPER LOW TAKES SHAPE WITH LOWER HEIGHTS ACROSS MUCH OF THE INTERIOR AS THE RIDGE LIFTS OUT. AS FAR AS THE SENSIBLE WEATHER GOES...THE OVERALL PATTERN SHOULD KEEP THINGS DRIER AND WARMER THAN AVERAGE ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHERN ALASKA. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WILL BE ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST ZONES...WHICH WILL LIKELY HAVE MORE CLOUDS AND A BETTER CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. LOWER HEIGHTS ACROSS THE INTERIOR NEXT WEEK SHOULD LEAD TO DIURNALLY DRIVEN ISOLATED TO SCATTERED CONVECTION. && .FIRE WEATHER...NONE. && .HYDROLOGY...FLOODING ON THE TANANA RIVER FROM OLD MINTO TO TOLOVANA WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TODAY. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLOOD WATCH FOR AKZ222-AKZ223. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ225-PKZ230. && CF MAY 08
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 2008
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: 90962.