Alaska, 2011

Heavy Rain in Alaska, June 22 to 24, 2011

June 22 to 24, 2011 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy rainfall in excess of an inch on the 22nd into the 23rd caused the Taylor Highway to be closed in two spots. The first road closure lasted approximately 11 hours and occurred in the Jack Wade area between mile posts 83 and 86, and was caused by a washout.

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

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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.

Heavy rainfall in excess of an inch on the 22nd into the 23rd caused the Taylor Highway to be closed in two spots. The first road closure lasted approximately 11 hours and occurred in the Jack Wade area between mile posts 83 and 86, and was caused by a washout. The road closure blocked access to the Canada border via the Top of the World Highway, which connects with the Taylor highway. The second road closure, occurred between mile posts 114 and 116 as mudslides blocked the road.

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 Jun 21, 11:03 AM AKST, 12 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 21, 11:03 AM AKST, 12 hours 57 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
1203 PM AKDT TUE JUN 21 2011

.DISCUSSION...
UPPER HIGH NEAR GREAT BEAR LAKE PROGGED BY CURRENT MODELS
TO REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY THROUGH TUE. RIDGE WESTWARD
ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST WILL BUILD SLIGHTLY. MAINLY EAST
TO SOUTHEAST FLOW ALOFT PERSISTING OVER THE INTERIOR...850
MB TEMPERATURES OVER THE NORTHEAST INTERIOR AND EASTERN
BROOKS RANGE WILL CONTINUE TO BE WARMER THAN CLIMATE NORMALS.
GFS/NAM PICKING UP WEAK EASTERLY SHORT WAVE MOVING INTO
THE EASTERN INTERIOR THU MORNING AND TO THE WESTERN INTERIOR
BY LATE THU NIGHT. UPPER LOW NEAR KUSKOKWIM BAY EXPECTED
TO MOVE LITTLE THROUGH TONIGHT THEN MOVE TO NORTON
SOUND BY LATE WED NIGHT.

AT THE SURFACE...THERMAL TROUGH FROM THE SEWARD PENINSULA
EASTWARD ACROSS THE INTERIOR WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY
THROUGH THU. THE BEST AREAS FOR AFTERNOON/EVENING THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY WILL BE IN THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN INTERIOR NEAR
THE TROUGH AND WHERE PROGGED LIFTED INDEXES ARE NEAR ZERO OR
NEGATIVE. SCATTERED SHOWERS NEAR THE WEST COAST UPPER LOW. LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE IN PARTS OF THE SOUTHEAST INTERIOR
WED NIGHT AND THU WITH THE EASTERLY SHORT WAVE...CURRENT GFS/EURO
SHOWING SOME LOCALLY HEAVY 24 HR QPFS IN EXCESS OF 1 INCH OVER
THE EASTERN INTERIOR FOR THE PERIOD ENDING 00Z FRI.

EXTENDED OUTLOOK...A WARM SAT-MON PERIOD LIKELY OVER MUCH OF THE
INTERIOR WITH BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT. OPERATIONAL GFS 850 MB
TEMPERATURES RUNNING A FEW DEGREES HOT COMPARED TO THE EURO AND
ENSEMBLE MEANS...BUT EVEN THESE COOLER SOLUTIONS SUGGEST MAX
TEMPERATURES OF 80 OR ABOVE AT MANY SITES.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
RELATIVELY HIGH DEW POINT AIR WILL PERSIST OVER THE INTERIOR
THROUGH THU...MIN RH IN THE AFTERNOON/EVENING WILL NOT LIKELY
GET A LOT BELOW 40 PERCENT. NO RED FLAG CONDITIONS EXPECTED. MAX
TEMPERATURES LIKELY REACHING 80 OR HIGHER OVER MANY PARTS OF THE
INTERIOR SAT THROUGH MON. CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY IN THE
CENTRAL/EASTERN INTERIOR LIKELY TO BE AT LEAST PARTIALLY CAPPED
OFF BY THE UPPER HIGH WITH ABOVE NORMAL HEIGHTS.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE IN PARTS OF THE EASTERN INTERIOR
WED NIGHT AND THU WITH EASTERLY SHORT WAVE.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.

&&

RF JUN 11

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Upr Tanana Vly Fortymile

When
June 22, 12:00 AM AKST to June 24, 6:00 AM AKST
Where
Upr Tanana Vly Fortymile County, 6.05 mi E of Chicken to 23.14 mi NE of Chicken
Reported by
Newspaper
Coordinates
64.070, -141.750

What these are

Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, June 2011

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: 309223.