|Several construction pads south of the airport were flooded on the west side of the highway. The most severe flooding occurred between milepost 391 and 413.
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.
Warm temperatures and extreme snow melt and ice jams caused flooding of the Sagavanirktok (Sag) River for portions of the Dalton Highway and northward to the Deadhorse airport.|Several construction pads south of the airport were flooded on the west side of the highway. The most severe flooding occurred between milepost 391 and 413. The Deadhorse airport is located at milepost 414. Sandbags and berms were used to deter the floodwaters along an access road near the airport. The flooding also interfered with daily operations on the North slope oil patch. Damage amounts reported by AK Department of Transportation.
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, 1:37 PM AKST, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 237 PM AKDT WED MAY 20 2015 .DISCUSSION... ALOFT...STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER EASTERN ALASKA WILL STRENGTHEN A LITTLE AND DRIFT INTO CANADA THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER EASTERN RUSSIA AND THE BERING SEA IS PROVIDING SEVERAL SHORT WAVES MOVING NORTH AND NORTHEAST OVER WESTERN ALASKA...THE FIRST ONE EXTENDS FROM SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND TO NUNIVAK ISLAND AND WILL MOVE TO NORTH OF WRANGELL ISLAND THU AM. THE SECOND SHORT WAVE WILL MOVE FROM THE CENTRAL BERING SEA TO THE BERING STRAIT NOON THU THEN TO THE NORTH CHUKCHI SEA AND EXTENDING TO BARROW LATE FRI AM AND CONTINUE NORTH THEREAFTER. AN OLD LOW SOUTH OF THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE NORTH AS A THIRD SHORT WAVE TO NEAR BETHEL 4AM SAT AND TO THE BERING STRAIT SOUTHEAST TO MCGRATH 4PM SAT. SURFACE...998 MB LOW OVER THE GULF OF ANADYR MOVING TO JUST WEST OF WRANGELL ISLAND 10 AM THU. ASSOCIATED COLD OCCLUSION FROM THE BERING STRAIT TO BETHEL WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AND EXTEND FROM BARROW TO MCGRATH AT 10 AM THU AND BE DIFFUSE. ARCTIC COLD FRONT FROM THE LOW SOUTH TO THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS THIS AFTERNOON WILL MOVE TO CAPE LISBURNE TO KOTZEBUE TO UNALAKLEET TO BETHEL AT 4PM THU AND TO BARROW TO GOLOVIN TO SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND 4AM FRI...AND TO PRUDHOE BAY TO KIVALINA TO THE BERING STRAIT 4PM FRI...CONTINUING NORTH THEREAFTER. OCCLUSION MOVING FROM SOUTH OF THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS TO THE BETHEL 4AM SAT AND TO THE NORTHERN SEWARD PENINSULA TO KODIAK ISLAND 4PM SAT. MODELS...IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT ON MAIN FEATURES THROUGH SAT. IN THE EXTENDED TIME FRAME THE ECMWF IS WANTING TO BREAK DOWN THE RIDGING OVER EASTERN AK MORE SO THAN THE GFS...AND THE WPC SEEMS REASONABLE TO BLEND THE TWO ENSEMBLE RUNS IN THIS CASE. NORTH SLOPE...RAIN MOVING OVER WESTERN PORTIONS TONIGHT AND THU...THOUGH MOSTLY SCATTERED SHOWERS BY THU. EAST WINDS WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH THU...THOUGH SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL PICK UP IN FAR WEST THU EVE WITH ARCTIC COLD FRONT MOVING NORTHEAST OVER WESTERN AND CENTRAL AREAS. WESTERN AK...RAIN SOUTH OF KOTZEBUE AND GALENA SPREADING NORTH TONIGHT WHILE ENDING FROM THE SOUTH OVER THE YUKON DELTA AND NORTON SOUND OVERNIGHT. RAIN SPREADING OVER ;OWER KOYUKUK AND UPPER KOBUK AND NOATAK VALLEYS TONIGHT. SHOWERS LINGERING THU AND THU EVENING ESPECIALLY INLAND AREAS. GUSY SOUTHEAST WINDS THIS EVENING WILL DIMINISH BUT NORTH OF NOME EXPECT GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS TO DEVELOP WITH ARCTIC COLD FORNT MOVING THROUGH THU AND THU EVENING. CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR...DRY AND WARM CONDITIONS CONTINUING. WEAK INSTABILITY AGAIN NEAR THE CANADA BORDER TODAY...DIMINISHING THU SO EXPECT ANOTHER OCCURRENCE OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE BORDER THIS PM. THE COLD OCCLUSION WILL SPREAD SOME HIGH CLOUDS INTO THE FAR WESTERN PORTION BUT THE ASSOCIATED RAIN WILL NOT MAKE IT INTO THE AREA. AS THE RIDGE ALOFT BUILDS SLOWLY OVER THE NESXT FEW DAYS...H850 TEMPS LOOK TO REACH 14C ON SAT...AND EXPECT AT LEAST IN FAIRBANKS THE RECORD HIGH...80...WILL BE MET OR EXCEEDED. && .FIRE WEATHER....THERMAL TROUGH LIES OVER THE UPPER YUKON FLATS WITH A LOW JUST SOUTH OF BETTLES THIS AFTERNOON. THE TROUGH WILL DRIFT NORTHEAST TONIGHT WITH THE LOW MOVING TO THE EAST OF ARCTIC VILLAGE BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. THE THERMAL TROUGH WILL REFORM OVER THE UPPER TANANA VALLEY ON FRIDAY THEN EXPAND OVER THE CENTRAL INTERIOR ON SATURDAY. RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL REMAIN LOW WITH POOR TO VERY POOR OVERNIGHT RECOVERY AS NO SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE ADVECTION WILL MAKE IT INTO THE INTERIOR THROUGH THE WEEKEND. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL WITH MANY AREAS SEEING HIGHS ABOVE OR AROUND 80 ON SATURDAY. WINDS THROUGH THE ALASKA RANGE WILL CONTINUE TO BE GUSTY TO AT LEAST 25 MPH THROUGH THE WEEKEND. EXPECT PERIODS OF WETTING RAINS AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY ABOVE 30 PERCENT ON THE WEST COAST AND WESTERN INTERIOR AS WEATHER FRONTS MOVE NORTH ACROSS THE AREA THIS WEEKEND. && .HYDROLOGY...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE AREAS OF CONCERN ON THE NORTH SLOPE SO WILL CONTINUE THE WATCH FOR THE CENTRAL BEAUFORT SEA COAST AND THE ADVISORY FOR THE DALTON HIGHWAY DUE TO INCEASED MELTING. THE PORCUPINE RIVER AT FORT YUKON HAS CHANGED LITTLE SO THE WARNING THERE AND WATCH UPSTREAM CONTINUES. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING FOR AKZ220-AKZ222-AKZ223-AKZ224-AKZ225-AKZ226. FLOOD WATCH FOR AKZ203-AKZ220. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ225-PKZ230-PKZ235-PKZ240-PKZ245. && FIRE WEATHER...SDB JL MAY 15
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 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 2015
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: 591854.