Dense Smoke, Middle Tanana Valley
- When
- July 30, 8:00 AM AKST to 6:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Middle Tanana Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
Dense Smoke in Alaska, July 30, 2009
Smoke from nearby wildfires moved into the Fairbanks area during the morning of the 30th and remained below 1 mile visibility until the early evening. The thick smoke forced the cancellation of a number of outdoor activities, including all Fairbanks Youth Football events, all Fairbanks Youth Soccer Association games, Golden Heart Softball Association games, a Goldpanner/Athletes in Action…
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.
Smoke from nearby wildfires moved into the Fairbanks area during the morning of the 30th and remained below 1 mile visibility until the early evening. The thick smoke forced the cancellation of a number of outdoor activities, including all Fairbanks Youth Football events, all Fairbanks Youth Soccer Association games, Golden Heart Softball Association games, a Goldpanner/Athletes in Action double-header baseball game, and a cycling time trial. The Railbelt Fire south of Nenana and the Woodriver 1 Fire south of Fairbanks were the contributors of the dense smoke.
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 30, 3:44 AM AKST, 4 hours 16 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 3:44 AM AKST, 4 hours 16 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 444 AM AKDT THU JUL 30 2009 .DISCUSSION... UPPER AIR: RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR AND WESTERN CANADA WILL BE FORCED EAST FRI AS WEST COAST LOW ROTATES A SHORT WAVE NORTH OVER THE INTERIOR. LOWER HEIGHTS WILL FOLLOW THROUGH THE WEEKEND FOR NORTHERN ALASKA...THEN RISES EARLY NEXT WEEK. SURFACE: A 999 MB LOW NEAR THE BERING STRAIT WILL MOVE NORTH AND WEAKEN. AT 4 AM FRI...THE LOW WILL BE 1005 MB 240 NM NORTHWEST OF CAPE LISBURNE. LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE NORTH OVER THE WESTERN INTERIOR ON FRI TO NORTHWEST OF BARROW SAT MORNING. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL REBUILD OVER THE INTERIOR SAT NIGHT AND SUN. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE BEAUFORT SEA WILL SLOWLY WEAKEN. NORTH SLOPE: LOW PRESSURE MOVING NORTH OF THE BROOKS RANGE WILL PRODUCE RAIN SHOWERS FROM BARROW WEST FRI NIGHT AND SAT. THE CLOUD COVER AND SHOWERS WILL HOLD TEMPERATURES DOWN FOR THAT PART OF THE NORTH SLOPE. EAST OF BARROW...TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN RATHER WARM. WEST COAST: SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL BECOME ISOLATED BY THIS EVENING AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES NORTH OF THE BERING STRAIT AND WEAKENS. WINDS AT GOLOVIN AND SAINT MICHAELS REMAIN QUIT STRONG THIS MORNING... THEREFORE A STRONG WIND HEADLINE FOR THAT AREA HAS BEEN CONTINUED UNTIL NOON TODAY. THE SOUNDS AND AREAS TO THE EAST WILL HAVE ANOTHER GOOD CHANCE OF SHOWERS ON FRI AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES NORTH OVER THE WESTERN INTERIOR. SUN AND MON WILL BE RATHER DRY WITH LIGHT WINDS FOR THE WEST COAST. INTERIOR: LOW PRESSURE MOVING NORTH OVER THE WESTERN INTERIOR WILL BRING SHOWERS FOR THE WESTERN TO NORTHERN INTERIOR AND ESPECIALLY THE BROOKS RANGE ON FRI. DRYING WILL TAKE PLACE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE LOW PASSAGE AND CONTINUING INTO NEXT WEEK. THE SOUTHEAST INTERIOR WILL BE KEPT DRY ON FRI BY DOWN SLOPING OFF THE ALASKA RANGE. WIND GUSTS THROUGH ALASKA RANGE PASSES WILL APPROACH ADVISORY LEVELS TONIGHT AND FRI. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE && .FIRE WEATHER...A RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR WILL WEAKEN FRI... BUT WITH STRENGTHENING POSSIBLE AGAIN EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL MEAN COOLER TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE WEEKEND. A SHORT WAVE MOVING NORTH WILL PRODUCE LOCAL GUSTS OF 35 TO 45 MPH THROUGH ALASKA RANGE PASSES TONIGHT AND FRI. THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN INTERIOR AND ESPECIALLY THE BROOKS RANGE WILL HAVE A GOOD CHANCE OF SHOWERS FRI AS THE WAVE MOVES NORTH. THE SOUTHEAST INTERIOR WILL EXPERIENCE THE USUAL SHADOWING EFFECT OF THE ALASKA RANGE... WITH VERY LITTLE IF ANY SHOWERS. && .HYDROLOGY...GLACIAL MELT CONTINUES TO GIVE A GRADUAL RISE OF THE TANANA RIVER. BY FRI AFTERNOON...THE RIVER STAGE AT NENANA IS EXPECTED TO REACH 8 FT...UP FROM A STAGE OF 7 FT ON MON... BUT WELL BELOW FLOOD STAGE OF 12.5 FT. LOWER FREEZING LEVELS THIS WEEKEND MAY SLOW THE RISE. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ215. && DA 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
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Tennessee, July 30, 2009
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Mississippi, July 30, 2009
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Arkansas, July 30, 2009
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Arkansas, July 30, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 30 to 31, 2009
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Tennessee, July 30, 2009
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Texas, July 30, 2009
- Damaging Winds in Alabama, July 30, 2009
- Damaging Winds in Louisiana, July 30, 2009
- Lightning Strike in Georgia, July 30, 2009
- Flash Flood and Hail in New Mexico, July 30, 2009
- Tornado and Flood in Kentucky, July 30, 2009
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, July 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: 189756.