Dense Smoke, Middle Tanana Valley
- When
- August 1, 12:01 AM AKST to August 8, 11:00 AM AKST
- Where
- Middle Tanana Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
Dense Smoke in Alaska, August 1 to 8, 2009
Dense smoke was widespread in Fairbanks and North Pole on the morning of August 8, 2009, and the visibility was one quarter mile or less at the Fairbanks International Airport. Locally the visibility was reduced to only a couple hundred yards.
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 AFG wrote it up.
Dense smoke was widespread in Fairbanks and North Pole on the morning of August 8, 2009, and the visibility was one quarter mile or less at the Fairbanks International Airport. Locally the visibility was reduced to only a couple hundred yards. The dense smoke was due to several large wildfires that were burning across interior Alaska. Although the smoke was dense on the morning of the 8th, areas of smoke reduced the visibility to one mile or less at times from August 1-7, 2009. The thick smoke brought air traffic in and out of Fairbanks to a standstill on August 5th, when most of the 30 plus flights that were scheduled to arrive or depart from Fairbanks International Airport were either cancelled or indefinitely delayed. The smoke resulted in very poor air quality, and at times, the air quality was above the hazardous level. The combination of a strong frontal passage and rain finally cleared out the smoke on the morning of the 9th. Several sports activities were cancelled during this time including a Senior Games tennis tournament and the High School Football Jamboree.
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 Jul 31, 1:39 PM AKST, 10 hours 22 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 1:39 PM AKST, 10 hours 22 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 239 PM AKDT FRI JUL 31 2009 .DISCUSSION... SHORT WAVE NUMBER 1...THE SURFACE LOW EAST OF WRANGEL ISLAND... WILL CONTINUE NORTH AND DISSIPATE. SHORT WAVE NUMBER 2... REPRESENTED BY THE SMALL SURFACE LOWS NEAR GALENA AND FORT YUKON AT 18Z...WILL ALSO CONTINUE NORTH. EXPECT THE SURFACE LOWS TO DISSIPATE OVER ARCTIC ZONES TONIGHT...BUT THE ASSOCIATED LOW ALOFT WILL PERSIST OVER THE SEWARD PENINSULA TONIGHT AND OVER THE SOUTHERN CHUKCHI SEA ON SATURDAY...PROVIDING MUCH OF OUR WEST COAST ZONES WITH AT LEAST PERIODS OF LIGHT RAIN OR DRIZZLE. A COLD FRONT EXTENDS SOUTHWARD FROM THE FORT YUKON LOW...TO AN EVEN WEAKER WAVE (PROBABLY NO SURFACE LOW ASSOCIATED) THAT WAS EAST OF KODIAK AT 18Z AND IS MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHWARD. THIS ONE IS NOT LIKELY TO PRODUCE MORE THAN ISOLATED SHOWERS THIS SIDE OF THE ALASKA RANGE...BUT MAY PROVIDE A BIT OF STRUCTURE IN OUR WINDS TONIGHT. THERE A FEW EVEN WEAKER FEATURES UPSTREAM...EACH OF WHICH WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE COOLING THAT IS EXPECTED OVER INTERIOR AND ARCTIC ALASKA THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. A LOW WILL MOVE INTO THE EAST SIBERIAN SEA FROM EASTERN RUSSIA TONIGHT...IT WILL PASS NORTH OF WRANGEL ISLAND INTO THE CHUKCHI SEA ON SUNDAY...DEEPENING TO 996 MB. IT WONT BE MUCH OF A WEATHER MAKER FOR NORTHERN ALASKA...EXCEPT FOR BRINGING THE WINDS IN MARINE AREAS 220-25-30 UP TO 30 KT OR SO SAT NIGHT AND SUN. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE && .FIRE WEATHER... RED FLAG WARNINGS FOR STRONG WIND AND LOW RH IN ZONES 222-23-25-26 WILL END THIS EVENING. && .HYDROLOGY... NO ISSUES. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING FOR AKZ222-AKZ223-AKZ225-AKZ226. DENSE SMOKE ADVISORY FOR AKZ221. && DJH JUL 09
Event by event
1 dense smoke. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Dense Smoke
- Smoke reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Rip Current in New York, August 1, 2009
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Arkansas, August 1 to 12, 2009
- Drought in Texas, August 1 to 31, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oregon, August 1 to 2, 2009
- Flash Flood and Hail in Texas, August 1, 2009
- Damaging Winds in Alabama, August 1 to 5, 2009
- High Surf in Hawaii, August 1 to 3, 2009
- Drought in Texas, August 1 to 31, 2009
- Drought in Wisconsin, August 1 to 31, 2009
- Drought in Wisconsin, August 1 to 7, 2009
- Drought in California, August 1 to 31, 2009
- Drought in Texas, August 1 to 31, 2009
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, August 2009
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: 187384.