Gusty winds peaked at 49 mph. Thunderstorm was nearby.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Gusty winds peaked at 49 mph. Thunderstorm was nearby. Two roofs were damaged. A number of small trees were blown down.
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, 2:33 PM AKST, 2 hours 47 minutes earlier.
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 333 PM AKDT FRI MAY 20 2011 .DISCUSSION... UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL MOVE NORTH OF WAINWRIGHT LATE TONIGHT WITH PERIODS OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN ENDING BY MORNING. FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY IS FROM 9PM FRIDAY NIGHT UNTIL 9AM SATURDAY MORNING. HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL QUICKLY BUILD BACK IN OVER THE NORTH SLOPE AFTER LOW MOVES OFF TO THE NORTH. PARTS OF THE INTERIOR WILL BE UNSTABLE ENOUGH FOR THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING AND AGAIN SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WINDS KICKING UP ALONG TANANA RIVER...ESPECIALLY FOR THE DELTA AREA WILL RAISE DUST THIS EVENING. && .FIRE WEATHER...A WEATHER FRONT FROM NOME TO BETTLES TO EAGLE WILL MOVE NORTH AND DISSIPATE OVER THE BROOKS RANGE TONIGHT. COOLER AND WETTER CONDITIONS WITH RAIN SHOWERS ARE ALONG THIS FRONT. THERE WILL BE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS JUST SOUTH OF THE FRONT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL INTERIOR. STRONG CHINOOK WINDS OVER THE ALASKA RANGE HAVE SPREAD ACROSS THE TANANA VALLEY. THESE STRONG WINDS WILL DECREASE TONIGHT. A THERMAL LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL DEVELOP OVER THE SOUTHERN INTERIOR SATURDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY. ISOLATED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ALONG THIS TROUGH. JB && .HYDROLOGY...LATEST FROM THE RIVER CENTER: FLOOD WARNING FOR THE BUCKLAND RIVER HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO NOON SATURDAY. THE ICE JAMS ABOVE AND BELOW THE VILLAGE OF BUCKLAND WERE CAUSING THE BUCKLAND RIVER TO OVERFLOW ITS BANKS FRIDAY MORNING. WATER LEVELS WERE DOWN ABOUT A FOOT FRIDAY MORNING BUT HOMES IN PORTIONS OF THE VILLAGE WERE STILL SURROUNDED BY WATER. THE RISK FOR MORE SERIOUS FLOODING REMAINS IF THE ICE UPSTREAM RELEASES AND MEETS THE JAM DOWNSTREAM OF BUCKLAND. FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM 1000 AM AKDT FRIDAY TO NOON AKDT SUNDAY FOR THE KOBUK RIVER AT KOBUK. IN KOBUK...WATER LEVELS WERE HIGH AND SEVERAL LOW LYING ROADS WERE ALREADY COVERED BY WATER. THE ICE MOVED YESTERDAY BUT THERE IS A LOT OF ICE STILL COMING DOWN RIVER. THE AREA HAD HIGHER THAN NORMAL SNOW PACK WHICH HAS ONLY RECENTLY STARTED TO MELT. SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE OCCURRING FRIDAY MORNING AND THE FORECAST WAS FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS TO CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND INTO FRIDAY EVENING..ACCELERATING THE SNOW MELT. WATER LEVELS ARE LIKELY TO GET EVEN HIGHER AS A RESULT AND COULD IMPACT MORE ROADS AND SOME STRUCTURES. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY FOR AKZ201. FLOOD WARNING AKZ210 AND AKZ217. RED FLAG WARNING FOR AKZ221-AKZ223-AKZ225-AKZ226-AKZ227. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ225-PKZ230. && DA MAY 11
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. 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: 331693.