Flood in Alaska, June 4 to 6, 2013

Name: Flood in Alaska, June 4 to 6, 2013
Start: 2013-06-04T14:00
End: 2013-06-06T08:00
Location: Alaska

June 4 to 6, 2013 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An ice jam formed downstream of Alakanuk causing water to rise in Alakanuk and Emmonak on the 4th into the morning of the 6th. it was 2-3 feet deep in spots at Alakanuk.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $20,000
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.

An ice jam formed downstream of Alakanuk causing water to rise in Alakanuk and Emmonak on the 4th into the morning of the 6th. Water flowed over the road to the airport in each village....it was 2-3 feet deep in spots at Alakanuk. The taxi way at the Emmonak airport was washed out. At Alakanuk, 3 to 4 homes had water in them and the residents of these homes were evacuated. The sewage lagoon was inundated and it was noted that some propane tanks to home heating were floating in town. By mid-morning on the 6th, the ice jam had moved out and river levels had fallen in both communities.

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 4, 12:49 PM AKST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 4, 12:49 PM AKST, 1 hour 11 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
149 PM AKDT TUE JUN 4 2013

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH 36 HOURS. UPPER LEVEL RIDGE HAS
RETREATED TEMPORARILY BACK EASTWARD INTO CANADA. STRONG UPPER
LEVEL TROUGH WITH ASSOCIATED STRONG SURFACE COLD FRONT ALONG THE
ARCTIC COAST. TEMPERATURES WILL NOT REACH FREEZING OVER THE ARCTIC
COAST UNTIL AT LEAST LATER WED BUT ONLY IN THE WESTERN ARCTIC.

STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW IN THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL CONTINUE TO SPIN
MOISTURE UP THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE STATE. ALONG WITH MOISTURE
BEING ADVECTED IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST. SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL HAS
ALREADY OCCURRED IN UPPER TANANA VALLEY AND FORTYMILE COUNTRY.

THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD BACK IN OVER THE CENTRAL INTERIOR
THU BUT THE MODELS HANDLE THIS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM HERE ON OUT.

FAIRLY HEAVY SNOWFALL IN THE BROOKS RANGE WITH THIS CURRENT EVENT
HAS LED TO ENOUGH SNOW ON THE ROAD WAY THAT IT HAS CLOSED ATIGUN
PASS. WINDS IN THE WESTERN ARCTIC WILL CONTINUE TO BE GUSTY
THROUGH AT LEAST TONIGHT...IF NOT INTO WED.

ANOTHER UPPER LOW WILL SWING DOWN TO THE NORTHWEST ARCTIC COAST
ALONG WITH ITS COLD FRONT ON SAT....ALTHOUGH NOT AS POTENT AS THE
CURRENT COLD FRONT .

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...NONE...VERY MOIST AIR MASS OVER MOST OF NORTHERN
ALASKA WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP RH VALUES WAY UP THROUGH WED.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...MODERATE RAINFALL OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR MAY
AGGRAVATE THE ALREADY HIGH RIVERS SUCH AS THE YUKON BY THE END OF
THE WEEK.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ215.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230.
&&

CF JUN 13

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Yukon Delta

When: June 4, 2:00 PM AKST to June 6, 8:00 AM AKST
Where: Yukon Delta County, 0.5 mi SSE of Alakanuk to 1.5 mi SSW of Emmonak
Cause: Ice Jam
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 62.673, -164.664

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

Every storm in Alaska in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, June 2013

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: 455604.