Flood, Deltana and Tanana
- When
- May 2, 12:30 AM AKST to May 3, 3:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Deltana and Tanana County, 5.32 mi NNW of Salcha to 5.35 mi NNW of Salcha
- Cause
- Ice Jam
- Reported by
- Emergency Manager
- Coordinates
- 64.543, -147.027
Flood in Alaska, May 2 to 3, 2011
At approximately 0030AKST on the 2nd an ice jam caused the Tanana River to flow over it's banks in the Boondox area and overland into the Piledriver slough. Water was also flowing over parts of the Old Richardson Highway.
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
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.
At approximately 0030AKST on the 2nd an ice jam caused the Tanana River to flow over it's banks in the Boondox area and overland into the Piledriver slough. Water was also flowing over parts of the Old Richardson Highway. Conditions deteriorated during the day and water levels rose several feet in areas near the Boondox and there were several homes surrounded by water. One house had some water in the garage and first floor of the structure. At least several homes in the area had water in their crawl spaces and basements. The water levels began to drop rapidly early on the morning of the 3rd as the ice jam released. Although the ice jam released, there continued to be some flooding in the area as residual ice in the Tanana River caused water to continue to flow overbank in spots. As the residual ice was flushed downriver during the afternoon of the 3rd the water levels dropped significantly and ended the flooding. Areas of standing water persisted for several days after the flooding ended as the ground remained frozen from the long northern Alaska winter.
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 May 1, 2:43 PM AKST, 9 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 1, 2:43 PM AKST, 9 hours 47 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 343 PM AKDT SUN MAY 1 2011 .DISCUSSION... SOMEWHAT LACKLUSTER PATTERN OVR NRN ALASKA FOR NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. SMALL CLOSED LOW PRESENTLY NR MCGRATH WILL DRIFT NWD...EMBEDDED IN BROAD TROF OVR WRN ALASKA THAT WILL OPEN UP AND MOVE EWD EARLY THIS WEEK. SEPARATE SHORT WAVE WILL FROM THE WEST TO BE NEAR WRANGEL ISLAND TUE AND THE WRN NORTH SLOPE WED. AT THE SFC...WEAK PRES GRAD WILL WEAKEN FURTHER OVER THE INTERIOR. OVER THE WEST COAST...SLIGHT INCREASE IN GRAD AS HIGH BUILDS A BIT OVER CHUKOTKA. MODEL GUIDANCE BROADLY IN AGREEMENT IN THE SHORT TERM. CONSIDERABLE DIFFS IN THE MID RANGE IN BOTH THE HIGH ARCTIC AND BERING SEA BY LATE IN THE WEEK...WITH POOR RUN TO RUN AND INTER- MODEL CONSISTENCY. AT THIS POINT THE MAIN MESSAGE IS MOSTLY NEAR NORMAL TEMPS AND LIGHT TO NO PRECIP...WITH NO BIG WARM-UP TO ACCELERATE EITHER BREAK-UP OR FIRE WEATHER IN THE KNOWN FUTURE. NORTH SLOPE...LIGHT BUT PERSISTENT W WINDS ALOFT WILL KEEP CONSIDERABLE SC OVER THE SLOPE. TEMPS TRENDING DOWN A BIT..SPCLY IN THE MOUNTAINS. WEST COAST...AREAS OF FOG PERSISTING. SMALL CLOSED LOW ALOFT BROUGHT A WET DAY TO A SMALL AREA CENTERED NEAR MCGRATH TODAY. THIS FEATURE DRIFTS N TONIGHT AND THEN NEWD AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE FOCUS OF PRECIP. OTHERWISE NOT MORE THAN ISOLATED SHOWERS. INTERIOR...AS SMALL LOW ALOFT MOVES NEWD FROM MCGRATH AREA FOCUS OF PRECIP WILL SHIFT INTO N CENTRAL INTERIOR. ELSEWHERE LITTLE MORE THAN ISOLATED SHOWERS WITH NON-MONOLITHIC CLOUD COVER. && .FIRE WEATHER... SNOW PACK ONLY SLOWLY MELTING AND TEMPS NEAR NORMAL. NO ISSUES ATTM. && .HYDROLOGY... NOTHING TO REPORT SO FAR. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && RT MAY 11
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, May 2, 2011
- Flash Flood and Hail in Tennessee, May 2 to 3, 2011
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, May 2, 2011
- Frost and Freeze in Texas, May 2 to 3, 2011
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Indiana, May 2, 2011
- Flood in Oklahoma, May 2 to 5, 2011
- Flash Flood in Missouri, May 2, 2011
- Tornado in Colorado, May 2, 2011
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 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: 288328.