An above-average snowpack and extra warm temperatures in early May created overflow of water out of the Nome River covering the Kougarok Road at mile 14 on May 4th and 5th.
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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 above-average snowpack and extra warm temperatures in early May created overflow of water out of the Nome River covering the Kougarok Road at mile 14 on May 4th and 5th.
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 4, 4:17 AM AKST, 7 hours 43 minutes earlier.
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 517 AM AKDT MON MAY 4 2009 .DISCUSSION... A SHORTWAVE TROUGH IN THE WESTERN CHUKCHI SEA EARLY THIS MORNING WILL PUSH INTO NORTHWEST AK THIS AFTERNOON AND A SECOND SHORTWAVE WILL FOLLOW QUICKLY BEHIND ON TUESDAY. BY TUESDAY NIGHT THE ENERGY BEGINS TO SPLIT WITH ONE LOW WELL OFF THE ARCTIC COAST AND ANOTHER LOW CLOSING OFF IN THE KUSKOKWIM VALLEY TUESDAY NIGHT THAT WILL DROP SOUTH TO NEAR KODIAK ISLAND BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT. OVERALL THE WEATHER PATTERN THIS WEEK CAN BE CHARACTERIZED AS VERY TYPICAL FOR EARLY MAY WITH SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES AND NO SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION. THE MAIN ISSUES WILL CONTINUE TO BE HYDROLOGICAL IN NATURE. INTERIOR...THE ARCTIC FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO DROP SOUTH INTO THE ALASKA RANGE TODAY WITH THE THERMAL TROUGH EXTENDING FROM THE UPPER TANANA VALLEY INTO THE EASTERN ALASKA RANGE. THERE WERE A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS AND VIRGA LAST EVENING IN THE UPPER TANANA VALLEY ALTHOUGH NO LIGHTNING STRIKES. IT LOOKS LIKE ISOLATED SHOWERS ARE AGAIN POSSIBLE TODAY. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO COOL AND ARE EXPECTED TO BE CLOSE TO SEASONABLE LEVELS TODAY. NORTH SLOPE...FAIRLY TYPICAL WEATHER WITH AREAS OF STATUS/FOG AND FLURRIES THE NEXT FEW DAYS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE CLOSE TO SEASONAL AVERAGES. WEST COAST...TEMPERATURES HAVE NOW COOLED BACK TO MORE SEASONABLE LEVELS. WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT TO BECOME MORE NORTH TO NORTHWEST EARLY THIS WEEK AS THE SHORTWAVES PUSH INLAND AND DEVELOP INTO A CLOSED LOW IN THE KUSKOKWIM VALLEY. AN UPPER RIDGE BUILDS IN ALONG THE WEST COAST IN THE WAKE OF THE LOW MID-WEEK WITH A MILDER AIRMASS. && .FIRE WEATHER...COOLER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED THIS WEEK WITH LITTLE THREAT OF LIGHTNING. && .HYDROLOGY... A FLOOD WARNING FOR THE EAGLE AREA DUE TO A MAJOR ICE JAM EARLY THIS MORNING THAT HAS PRODUCED SIGNIFICANT FLOODING IN EAGLE. A FLOOD WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING ON THE UPPER YUKON RIVER FROM THE CANADIAN BORDER TO COAL CREEK INCLUDING ITS TRIBUTARIES IN THE FORTYMILE COUNTRY. THE UPPER YUKON IS NOW BREAKING UP AND ICE JAMS ARE OCCURRING. A FLOOD WATCH REMAIN IN EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE TANANA VALLEY ON THE TANANA RIVER DOWNSTREAM FROM FAIRBANKS. THE FLOOD WATCH ALSO INCLUDES THE CHATANIKA RIVER BELOW THE ELLIOT HIGHWAY BRIDGE TO THE MINTO FLATS. SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS IN THE MIDDLE TANANA VALLEY CONTINUE TO RUN HIGH AND MAY PRODUCE FLOODING. ALONG THE WEST COAST...THERE IS A FLOOD ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM TUESDAY ALONG THE NOME RIVER NORTH OF NOME. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLOOD WARNING FOR AKZ224 FLOOD WATCH FOR AKZ222-AKZ224 FLOOD ADVISORY AKZ210-AK211-AK222. && CB MAY 09
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 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 2009
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: 162678.