Flood in Alaska, August 28, 2010

Name: Flood in Alaska, August 28, 2010
Start: 2010-08-28T20:00
End: 2010-08-28T22:00
Location: Alaska

August 28, 2010 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

22 inches in Anchorage resulted in local streams rising to near flood stage. 92 feet below flood stage, but withing the action stage.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

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 AFC wrote it up.

A one day record rainfall of 1.22 inches in Anchorage resulted in local streams rising to near flood stage. Chester Creek recorded a stage of 19.58, 0.92 feet below flood stage, but withing the action stage. Local bike and walking paths experience minor overflow in low lying portions of the trails.

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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 28, 4:00 PM AKST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 28, 4:00 PM AKST, 4 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 PM AKDT SAT AUG 28 2010

GFS RUN WAS RATHER SUSPECT WITH SEVERAL ASSPECTS OF ITS SOLUTION.
THEREFORE, ANCFO FORECASTERS ARE USING MOSTLY THE NAM OUT WEST AND A
PARTIAL COMBINATION NAM AND ECMWF, AT TIMES, FOR THE EAST. THERE
SEEMS TO BE A PROBLEM WITH THE GFS TAKING A LOW, NOW NEAR 30N 175E,
AND BRINGING IT NORTHEAST TO THE EASTERN ALEUTIONS TUESDAY MORNING.

TIMING THE SMALLER SHRTWVS IN THE WESTERLY FLOW OVER THE TOP OF THE
NORTHEAST PACIFIC RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO BE A SMALL FORECAST PROBLEM
THE NEXT 36 TO 60 HOURS, OR MORE, WITH THE WAVES MOVING NORTHEAST
ALONG THE BOUNDRY ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE PACIFIC RIDGE, AND ALSO
WITH THE SYSTEMS MOVEING EASTWARD FROM THE BERING BOTH TONIGHT AND
SUNDAY NIGHT. RAIN WILL TAPPER OFF TO A FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS FROM
BRISTOL BAY AND ACROSS SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT
ALONG WITH SOME POSSIBLE CLEARING. HOWEVER, THERE IS ALMOST NO
CLEARING AT ALL SHOWING UP ON THE VIS SATELLITE IMAGRY.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE
MARINE...NONE
FIRE WEATHER...OVER

*** AUG 10

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: August 28, 8:00 PM AKST to 10:00 PM AKST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek County, 1.1 mi S of Anchorage to 1.13 mi S of Anchorage
Cause: Heavy Rain
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 61.204, -149.900

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, August 2010

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: 246570.