Flood — Lower Kuskokwim Valley, Alaska

2023-05-13 to 2023-05-15 · near Crooked Creek, Lower Kuskokwim Valley, Alaska

Event narrative

Riverwatch reported an ice jam below Crooked Creek, AK causing major flooding to the village. All roads were impassable except by boat, water levels had risen to 12 ft. by the afternoon of 5/13 and 16 ft. By the morning of 5/14 , most builds were inundated with water and roads, including the bridge, were completely submerged and only accessible by boat. A portion of the runway was above water, so both the Riverwatch plane and Blackhawk helicopters were able to land in the village.

Wider weather episode

Unusually cold weather kept ice coverage in place on rivers across Alaska in spring 2023 with breakup much later than normal. Ice started breaking up on the upper reach of the Kuskokwim River starting May 4th when ice started showing movement at Nikolai. Ice continued to melt, move and jam into late May. A Flood Watch was issued for Red Devil on May 13 and additional flood watches continued to be issued as ice jam flooding continued to threaten communities downstream until the ice jam threat passed on the Kuskokwim River, May 22, 2023. This episode covers the time from May 13 though May 18. May 19-22 are covered in the next Kuskokwim Episode.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (61.8632, -157.9508)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1093746. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.