North Slope Borough, Alaska

What hazards hit North Slope Borough most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 648 since 2001. 45% of its winter storm records since 2001 fell in January and February. The rank column places the county among Alaska's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

When was the last damaging storm in North Slope Borough?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the August 1, 2008 coastal flood (2 deaths).

Event continued from July. A 980 mb low pressure center moved counter-clockwise across the southern Beaufort Sea during 29th through Aug 1st, bringing several periods of west winds 30 to 50 mph across the Arctic Coast of Alaska. This caused a combination of high surf and elevated ocean water levels which destroyed the seawall and threatened 3 structures at the village of Wainwright on the western coast, and damaged the seawall and half of the airstrip at the village of Kaktovik, on the far eastern coast. On Aug 1, a father and his 13-year-old son in an open skiff perished in Camden Bay under strong winds as they were boating from their camp to Kaktovik. Property Damage Estimated at $7 million for Wainwright Seawall; $800,000 for Kaktovik Seawall and Airstrip.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 119800)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for North Slope Borough's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

45% of its winter storm records since 2001 fell in January and February. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for North Slope Borough

FEMA's register lists 8 declarations that include North Slope Borough: 7 major disasters, one emergency and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (4) and biological (2).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has North Slope Borough had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 24 flood or flash flood records for North Slope Borough from 2002 to 2022, on 21 days, with 2 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), North Slope Borough ranks 2830th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $56,000 on 1 claim filed in North Slope Borough; the most in one year was 1 in 2013. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for North Slope Borough

FEMA's National Risk Index rates North Slope Borough Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $4.9 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with North Slope Borough

1. North Slope Borough 986
2. Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area 722
3. Northwest Arctic Borough 480

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Winter storms in AlaskaThe state's winter storm records, by county, year and month
• The Alaska recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in North Slope BoroughThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download North Slope Borough's FEMA declarations (CSV)8 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis