Name: Flood in Alaska, May 19, 2013
Start: 2013-05-19T09:30
End: 2013-05-19T19:00
Location: Alaska

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: $1.5 million
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 released upstream of Circle City and sent a surge of water and ice through the city during the 19th, causing major flooding by inundating the city with 5 to 8 feet of water. Most structures were flooded except for the school which was slightly more elevated. All residents were evacuated to higher ground. The area upstream from the boat launch on the slough was most affected as the water levels brought a considerable amount of ice right into the homes in that area. Elsewhere, the main effects were water damage. One vehicle carrying village elders tried to drive through the flooded street to safety and went off of the road into the ditch. They were rescued in the bucket of a front loader and taken to safety. Water levels according to a long-time resident were the 2nd highest in over 50 years, with only the floods in 1989 more severe. Water levels began falling in the late afternoon and receded below flood level by mid-evening on the 19th. Damage amounts are estimated, and include repairs to 8 homes with major damage and 7 homes with minor damage, along with nearly 1 million dollars expended in emergency response and road repair.

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 19, 1:39 AM AKST, 7 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 19, 1:39 AM AKST, 7 hours 51 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
239 AM AKDT SUN MAY 19 2013

.DISCUSSION...
ALOFT...THE MAJORITY OF ENERGY ASSOCIATED WITH A DEEP UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
WITH AXIS FROM WRANGEL ISLAND TO PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND CONTINUES TO
LIFT TO THE NORTH WHILE SOME ENERGY IN THE BOTTOM OF THE TROUGH
DOES MOVE NORTHEAST INTO SOUTHEAST ALASKA AND SOUTHERN ALASKA.
AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS INTO SOUTHWEST ALASKA SUNDAY
AFTERNOON AND INTO SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA MONDAY. THE RIDGE
CONTINUES TO BUILD NORTH TO COVER MOST OF MAINLAND ALASKA BY MID
WEEK. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK
WITH LARGE SCALE FEATURES WITH THE RIDGE OVER MAINLAND ALASKA AND
MULTIPLE LOW CENTERS OVER THE BERING SEA.

SURFACE...THE LOW CENTERED OVER THE CENTRAL YUKON CONTINUES TO
MOVE NORTHEAST TODAY WITH SIGNIFICANT SNOW OVER THE EASTERN
INTERIOR AND EASTERN BROOKS RANGE EXPECTED TO WIND DOWN BY MID
DAY. PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES EXPECTED OVER THE CENTRAL INTERIOR TODAY
WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF RECORD BREAKING LOW TEMPERATURES LIKELY.
INCREASING CLOUDS IN THE WESTERN INTERIOR. MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH
SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS TODAY ON THE NORTH SLOPE.

WEATHER FOCUS TURNS TO THE WEST COAST TODAY ESPECIALLY ALONG THE
SEWARD PENINSULA AND POINTS NORTH SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY AS MOISTURE
RUNNING ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF SURFACE RIDGE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL
ALASKA MOVES IN. SNOW ASSOCIATED WITH NORTHEAST MOVING SHORT WAVE
IS ONGOING OVER MUCH OF THE WEST COAST NORTH OF THE SEWARD
PENINSULA. GENERALLY 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW ARE ARE EXPECTED TODAY.
NEXT SHORT WAVE MOVES IN TONIGHT WITH WARNING LEVEL SNOW EXPECTED
TO DEVELOP TONIGHT IN ZONES 207 AND 208 WHERE UPSLOPE WILL
ENHANCE. ADVISORY LEVEL SNOW EXPECTED IN ZONES 217 AND 209.
WARNING LEVEL SNOW IS NOT EXPECTED ALONG THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE
SEWARD PENINSULA WHERE RAIN IS EXPECTED TO MIX WITH THE SNOW
MONDAY AS THE ZERO LINE AT 850 MB MOVES INTO NORTON SOUND. WILL
NEED TO MONITOR AS MODEL QPF AMOUNTS OF OVER ONE HALF INCH WOULD
APPROACH WARNING CRITERIA FOR SNOW ALONG THE SOUTHERN SEWARD
PENINSULA IF ALL QPF FELL AS SNOW.

MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT IN THE LONG TERM WITH TEMPERATURES
WARMING ACROSS THE INTERIOR TO SEASONAL LEVELS BY MID TO LATE WEEK
AND POSSIBLY RISING TO ABOVE NORMAL NEXT WEEKEND.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
NONE

&&

.HYDROLOGY...
FLOOD WATCH FOR THE YUKON RIVER AT CIRCLE REMAINS IN EFFECT
THROUGH TUESDAY AND A FLOOD ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM
SUNDAY FOR THE CHENA RIVER DOWN RIVER FROM NORDALE ROAD BRIDGE AND
UP RIVER FROM FORT WAINWRIGHT.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ207-AKZ208-AKZ218.

FLOOD WATCH FOR AKZ220.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ209-AKZ217-AKZ224.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ245.
&&

CCC MAY 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 Flats Nearby Uplands

When: May 19, 9:30 AM AKST to 7:00 PM AKST
Where: Yukon Flats Nearby Uplands County, 0.1 mi N of Circle to 0.7 mi E of Circle
Cause: Ice Jam
Property damage: $1.5 million
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 65.832, -144.080

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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, May 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: 455505.