A large volume of water and a considerable amount of ice moved down river after the historic flooding at Eagle and moderate flooding at Circle. A 35 mile long ice run that moved by Circle during the evening of the 6th, diminished to a 20 mile long ice run at it passed Fort Yukon.
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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.
A large volume of water and a considerable amount of ice moved down river after the historic flooding at Eagle and moderate flooding at Circle. A 35 mile long ice run that moved by Circle during the evening of the 6th, diminished to a 20 mile long ice run at it passed Fort Yukon. The water levels rose rapidly at Fort Yukon during the late evening of the 7th, and several streets were flooded and people were evacuated from the low lying areas that were flooding. The flooding became more severe overnight as water began to inundate portions of the village with water several feet deep in some homes and low lying areas near the river. About one half of the village flooded and the main taxiway at the airport was damaged. The levee in front of town also received some damage. The water levels remained high and the flooding continued into the 8th. The water levels began to recede on the morning of the 9th, and dropped approximately 7 feet by the evening of the 9th. The damage estimates for this event include the costs to repair and replace homes that were damaged and destroyed as well as costs to repair and replace public infrastructure and equipment.
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 7, 1:16 PM AKST, 8 hours 14 minutes earlier.
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 216 PM AKDT THU MAY 7 2009 .DISCUSSION... THE RIDGE ALOFT OVER SOUTHWEST MAINLAND AK WILL SPREAD EASTWARD AS THE OLD TROUGH ALOFT CONTINUES EAST OVER NW CANADA...BUT THE ACTUAL MOVEMENT OF THE RIDGE LINE IS QUITE SLOW. ITS A FLAT TOPPED RIDGE OVER AK IN ANY EVENT...FOR THE PRESENT AT LEAST. THE WEAK LOW ALOFT OVER THE CENTRAL BERING SEA WILL MOVE EAST WITHOUT MUCH IMPACT ON THE WEATHER (JUST A WRINKLE IN THE RIDGE) AS ANOTHER RIDGE ALOFT BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST. THE ECMF AND GFS CONTINUE TO DIFFER IN DETAIL CONCERNING THAT ONE...BUT BOTH SHOW APPRECIABLE HEIGHT RISES OVER THE WESTERN MAINLAND THIS WEEKEND...WITH BRISK NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT BECOMING ESTABLISHED OVER MAINLAND ALASKA EAST OF A LINE FROM ABOUT POINT LAY TO KING SALMON. THE ECMF IS A BIT COLDER OVER MOST OF THE MAINLAND...BUT NEITHER MODEL SHOWS MUCH COOLING AT LOW LEVELS SOUTH OF THE BROOKS RANGE...THOUGHT COOLING IS SIGNIFICANT TO THE NORTH. THE 1004 MB LOW NORTHWEST OF BARROW AT THIS TIME WILL WEAKEN A BIT AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST OVER THE BEAUFORT SEA TO BE 1008 MB OVER BANKS ISLAND AT 4AM SAT. THE COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LOW WILL PUSH EAST AND SOUTH TO LIE OVER THE BROOKS RANGE FRIDAY MORNING. A SERIES OF WEAKER WAVES WILL MOVE EASTWARD ALONG THIS FRONT (SOUTHEASTWARD LATER...AS THE RIDGE SHARPENS)...EACH PUSHING THE FRONT A BIT FARTHER SOUTH. FOG APPEARS LIKELY TO BE A PROBLEM OVER AT LEAST THE WEST COAST ZONES. CONSIDERABLE STRATUS AT LEAST...BUT AVAILABLE UPSTREAM DATA DO NOT SUGGEST ADVISORIES. && .FIRE WEATHER... NO ISSUES. && .HYDROLOGY... BREAKUP PROBLEMS PRETTY MUCH DEFY ANALYSIS (AS USUAL) AND SOMETIMES DEFY DESCRIPTION. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLOOD WATCH FOR AKZ210-AKZ217-AKZ220. FLOOD WARNINGS FOR PORTIONS OF ZONES 220...224...AND 216. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ235-PKZ240-PKZ245. && DJH 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: 159413.