An ice jam formed in front of the village of Buckland along the Buckland River. The ice jam caused the water levels to rise rapidly during the afternoon hours of the 20th.
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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 ice jam formed in front of the village of Buckland along the Buckland River. The ice jam caused the water levels to rise rapidly during the afternoon hours of the 20th. Many roads were flooded, and the village dump was submerged. The ice knocked down a power pole late on the evening of the 20th or early on the morning of the 21st, and cut power to the airport. The ice jam finally released around 2200AKST on the 21st, and the water level rapidly dropped about 6 feet ending the flooding. Three roads were washed out with damage to 2 culverts. Total damage was estimated at $135,000.
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 20, 4:59 AM AKST, 8 hours 1 minute earlier.
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 559 AM AKDT THU MAY 20 2010 .DISCUSSION... THE GFS AND NAM MODELS HAVE SIMILAR FORECASTS THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. A TROUGH ALOFT EXTENDING FROM THE KENAI PENINSULA TO EAGLE IS MOVING WESTWARD AND IS FORECAST TO BE DISSIPATING OVER SOUTHWEST ALASKA TONIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT IS FORECAST TO BUILD OVER THE EASTERN MAINLAND TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. THIS TROUGH ALOFT BROUGHT A QUARTER OF AN INCH OF RAIN TO NORTHWAY OVERNIGHT...BUT LITTLE OR NONE TO THE REST OF THE SOUTHEASTERN INTERIOR. A LOW ALOFT ORIGINATING IN THE WEST CHUKCHI SEA IS FORECAST TO MOVE DOWN TOWARD BERING STRAIT FRIDAY NIGHT. THE GFS MODEL FORECASTS THIS FEATURE TO SLOWLY MOVE BACK OVER THE CHUKCHI SEA OVER THE WEEKEND. THIS FEATURE SHOULD BRING IN SOME CLOUDS AND RAIN TO NORTHWEST ALASKA...BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THIS INCOMING WEATHER WILL NOT ADVANCE OVER THE INTERIOR. AN OLD LOW ALOFT OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA IS FORECAST TO DRIFT NORTH OVER THE WEEKEND AND TO CREATE SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER THE ALASKA RANGE INTO THE INTERIOR BY SUNDAY. THIS SHOULD BRING IN HIGH CLOUDS AND A RATHER DRY AIR MASS FOR AT LEAST THE FIRST 3 DAYS OF NEXT WEEK. THE AIR MASS OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN INTERIOR HAS STABILIZED OVERNIGHT...BUT OVER THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN INTERIOR THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS UNSTABLE. THE MOST LIKELY LOCATION FOR LIGHTNING TODAY IS OVER THE MIDDLE AND LOWER YUKON VALLEY. EARLY MORNING POLAR ORBITING SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS LOW CLOUDS HOLDING OVER THE NORTH SLOPE WITH LITTLE CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS DAYS. THERE ARE CLEAR SKIES OVER THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN INTERIOR. THE CLOUDS ON THE LEADING EDGE OF THE CLOUDS WITH THE WESTWARD MOVING TROUGH ALOFT LOOK UNSTABLE OVER THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR. && .FIRE WEATHER... THE INCOMING CLOUDS NOW OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN INTERIOR HAVE BROUGHT SOME LIGHT RAIN THERE...BUT THERE WILL BE RELATIVELY LITTLE RAIN IN THE CENTRAL INTERIOR. THE NORTHERN INTERIOR WILL HAVE SOME AFTERNOON RELATIVE HUMIDITIES AS LOW AS 20 PERCENT. ALONG WITH THIS...THERE WILL BE AFTERNOON WINDS GUSTING TO 25 MPH OVER PARTS OF THE NORTHERN INTERIOR. THE SOUTHEASTERN INTERIOR HAS INCREASED MOISTURE SO RELATIVE HUMIDITIES HAVE RECOVERED. && .HYDROLOGY... WARM TEMPERATURES OVER THE WEST INTERIOR CONTINUE TO AID SNOW MELT SO THERE WILL BE CONTINUED MODERATE RUNOFF FLOWING DOWN TO ICE JAMS. PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN LIGHT AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE SO THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE TANANA RIVER AT FAIRBANKS LOOKS AS LOW AS IT HAS BEEN IN YEARS. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY FOR AKZ203-AKZ204. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ225-PKZ230-PKZ240-PKZ245. && TF MAY 10
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 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 2010
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: 221361.