Multiple ice jams in front of the village of Buckland and upriver produced flooding in the village. The water depth ranged from 1 to 3 feet in the uptown portion of the village and the road to the airport was under water.
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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.
Multiple ice jams in front of the village of Buckland and upriver produced flooding in the village. The water depth ranged from 1 to 3 feet in the uptown portion of the village and the road to the airport was under water. Water surrounded many homes, but there were no reports of damage or flooding in the interior of any structures.
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 18, 3:13 AM AKST, 7 hours 22 minutes earlier.
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 413 AM AKDT WED MAY 18 2011 .DISCUSSION... ALOFT...AN UPPER RIDGE EXTENDS FROM SOUTH OF HUDSON BAY TO THE EASTERN BEAUFORT SEA. THE RIDGE CONTINUES TO BE THE MOST PREDICTABLE FEATURE IN BOTH THE SHORT AND MEDIUM RANGE. THE PORTION OF THE RIDGE THAT IS CURRENTLY IN NW CANADA GETS PINCHED OFF INTO A CLOSED CENTER IN THE EASTERN BEAUFORT SEA BY FRI AND THEN REMAINS QUASI-STATIONARY THROUGH AT LEAST TUE OF NEXT WEEK. A COMPLEX UPPER LOW WITH MULTIPLE LOW CENTERS ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO COVER A LOT OF REAL ESTATE FROM EASTERN RUSSIA AND ACROSS MUCH OF THE BERING SEA AND INTO THE GULF OF AK. THE ABOVE PATTERN WILL PRODUCE SOUTHEAST FLOW ALOFT FOR MANY DAYS TO COME ACROSS NORTHERN AK. THERE IS ONE SHORTWAVE THAT MAY BRIEFLY INTERRUPT THE SOUTHEAST FLOW ALOFT FRI INTO FRI NIGHT. SURFACE...A STRONG RIDGE WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN CANADIAN ARCHIPELAGO FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. A THERMAL TROUGH ALSO LOOKS TO BE A NEARLY PERMANENT FEATURE JUST TO THE NORTH OF THE AK RANGE. THE THERMAL TROUGH LOOKS TO WEAKEN FRI AS THE SHORTWAVE MOVES THROUGH...BUT SHOULD REFORM AGAIN OVER THE WEEKEND. ELSEWHERE...A STRONG LOW NEAR 43N 170E WILL MOVE TO THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS AND WEAKEN BY 12Z SAT. INTERIOR...CONTINUED WARM AND MOSTLY DRY THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS WITH CONTINUED MODERATION IN THE LOW LEVELS. 850 MB TEMPS IN THE SHORT TERM PEAK OUT AT +8-12C ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON. WIDESPREAD HIGHS IN THE 70S ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS WITH A FEW SPOTS LIKELY TO COME CLOSE TO 80F ACROSS THE EASTERN INTERIOR THU. A FAIR AMOUNT OF MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS ARE STEAMING ACROSS MUCH OF THE INTERIOR THIS MORNING AND THIS WILL CUT DOWN THE MAX HEATING A BIT IN SOME AREAS TODAY. THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE SOME STRONGER WIND IN AREAS NEAR THE ALASKA RANGE GIVEN THE PROXIMITY OF THE THERMAL TROUGH. CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL IS NOT GREAT...BUT SOME ISOLATED CONVECTION POSSIBLE IN THE LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING HOURS...MAINLY AREAS NEAR THE ALCAN BORDER TODAY AND IN ZONES 220 AND 224 ON THURSDAY EVENING. A STRONGER SHORTWAVE IN THE GULF OF AK FRI IS EXPECTED TO LIFT ACROSS THE WESTERN INTERIOR FRI NIGHT AND THIS FEATURE HAS A BETTER CHANCE OF PRODUCING SHOWERS. NORTH SLOPE...THERE WAS LITTLE CHANGE YESTERDAY WITH NO DIURNAL COMPONENT TO THE LOW STATUS. THE FOG PRODUCT SHOWS SOME CLEARING APPROACHING THE EASTERN BEAUFORT SEA COAST FROM THE EAST WITH SHINGLE POINT CLEARING OUT LATE LAST EVENING. A BETTER CHANCE THAT THE CLOUDS WILL LIFT AND THIN ALONG THE EASTERN BEAUFORT SEA COAST TODAY...BUT AREAS FROM DEADHORSE WEST LIKELY TO REMAIN IN THE SOUP WITH PATCHY FOG AND FLURRIES AND THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME SPOTTY DRIZZLE OR FREEZING DRIZZLE. BASED ON PILOT REPORTS FROM YESTERDAY EVENING IT LOOKS LIKE THE LAYER OF STATUS IS FAIRLY DEEP WITH THE TOPS AROUND 2K FT AGL. THE LOW LEVEL FLOW REMAINS OUT OF THE EAST TODAY AND WEAKENS TONIGHT. A BETTER CHANCE THAT THERE WILL BE A STRONGER DIURNAL COMPONENT TO THE STATUS/FOG ON THURSDAY. THE ELY FLOW THEN INCREASES ON FRIDAY AS THE THERMAL TROUGH IN THE INTERIOR LIFTS NORTH. WEST COAST...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS TODAY AS A SHORTWAVE TROUGH LIFTS NORTH FROM BRISTOL BAY TO NEAR THE BERING STRAIT THIS EVENING. THURSDAY LOOKS TO BE A MAINLY DRY DAY IN BETWEEN WAVES...BUT ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVES LIKELY TO ROTATE AROUND THE MEAN UPPER TROUGH IN THE BERING SEA TO PRODUCE MORE SCATTERED SHOWERS AT TIMES THU NIGHT AND FRI. MEDIUM RANGE...THE MOST HIGHLY PREDICTABLE FEATURE ANYWHERE ACROSS NORTH AMERICA CONTINUES TO BE THE STRONG HIGH ALOFT ACROSS NW CANADA AND EASTERN ALASKA INTO THE THE BEAUFORT SEA. INDICATIONS ARE THAT THIS RIDGE WILL HOLD ON FOR AT LEAST A WEEK AND PROBABLY LONGER. THIS WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES ABOVE NORMAL...ESPECIALLY SO EAST OF 160W WITH BELOW AVERAGE PRECIP CHANCES. && .FIRE WEATHER...RED FLAG WARNINGS ARE OUT FOR ZONES 222...223 & 226. FIRE WEATHER WATCHES ARE CURRENTLY OUT FOR ZONES 221...224 & 225 THROUGH THIS EVENING. WIDESPREAD MIN RH'S YESTERDAY WERE BELOW 15 PCT IN ZONES 220 THROUGH 226. STRONGER WIND WAS NOTED IN THE TYPICAL WINDY SPOTS IN ZONES 223...225 & 226. AS THE THERMAL TROUGH REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY TODAY THERE WILL LIKELY BE A REPEAT OF THE LOW RH'S AND LOCALLY STRONG WIND TODAY AND TOMORROW. A STRONG SHORTWAVE WILL LIKELY DISLODGE THE THERMAL THROUGH ON FRI AND INCREASE THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN PARTS OF THE INTERIOR. && .HYDROLOGY...A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE THE BUCKLAND RIVER AT BUCKLAND. OTHERWISE...THERE ARE NO KNOWN ISSUES AT THIS TIME. INTERIOR RIVERS WILL SEE SOME SLOW RISES THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK AS THE WARMER TEMPS AND HIGH FREEZING LEVELS CONTINUE TO MELT HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW. && .CLIMATE...THE HIGH TEMPERATURE YESTERDAY AT THE FAIRBANKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WAS 73 DEGREES. THIS WAS THE FIRST 70 DEGREE DAY OF THE YEAR AND OCCURRED ONLY THREE DAYS AFTER OUR FIRST 60 DEGREE DAY OF THE YEAR...WHICH JUST OCCURRED LAST SATURDAY. THE LAST TIME THE TEMPERATURE REACHED 70 DEGREES AT THE AIRPORT WAS BACK ON SEPTEMBER 13TH 2010. ALTHOUGH WARM...IT FELL WELL SHY OF THE RECORD HIGH OF 82 DEGREES WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1993. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR AKZ221-AKZ224-AKZ225. RED FLAG WARNING FOR AKZ222-AKZ223-AKZ226. FLOOD WATCH FOR THE BUCKLAND RIVER AT BUCKLAND AKZ210. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ245. && CB MAY 11
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 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 2011
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: 293445.