Alaska natural disasters

The state's storm and disaster record · population 731,719 · 30 counties and county equivalents

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 9,738 storm events in Alaska since 1950, 9,737 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded, and the Storm Prediction Center counts 5 tornadoes in the state since 1950. The most frequent records are winter storm records (4,435). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest event in Alaska is the November 20, 2023 debris flow: 6 deaths, 1 injury and $2.1 million in damage in 2025 dollars across 2 records. FEMA has made 95 declarations for Alaska since 1953, 89 for natural hazards; 66 were major disasters.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm events recorded in Alaska each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).

recorded, no damage figure
under $1 million
$1 million or more
$10 million or more
$100 million or more, or 10 deaths
$1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
a year with a death
1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
1996: all 48 event types from 1996

Storm events recorded: 9,7381950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded: 100133 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $640Mas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes (SPC): 51950 to 2025
FEMA declarations: 9566 major disasters

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); tornado count: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, 1950-2025; damage in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U). Search the record at NCEI.

What natural disasters happen in Alaska?

By NOAA's records, Alaska's most frequent hazards are winter storm records (4,435), high wind and dust records (3,842), floods and flash floods (648); the deadliest are landslide and avalanche records (56 deaths). Each hazard is counted over the years NOAA has recorded it everywhere: tornadoes since 1950, hail and thunderstorm wind since 1955, everything else since 1996. Open a hazard for its years, months, counties and worst events.

Alaska: records by hazard to June 30, 2026
Hazard	Records	Last 10 years	Killed	Injured	Damage	Counties
Winter storms	4,435	1,492	24	65	$6.6M	28 of 30
High wind and dust storms	3,842	632	0	20	$74M	28 of 30
Floods	648	236	12	1	$429M	28 of 30
Extreme cold	398	70	6	1	$454K	22 of 30
Landslides and avalanches	102	31	56	21	$43M	19 of 30
Wildfires	75	29	0	19	$29M	24 of 30
Hurricanes and tropical storms	52	4	0	2	$40M	14 of 30
Rip currents and high surf	36	12	0	0	$11M	10 of 30
Heavy rain	34	3	1	0	$5.8M	4 of 30
Heat	32	0	1	0	–	5 of 30
Hail	28	5	0	0	$21K	0 of 30
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	26	3	0	0	–	5 of 30
Severe thunderstorm wind	15	7	0	0	$1.1M	1 of 30
Lightning	8	1	0	4	$11K	1 of 30
Tornadoes	4	1	0	0	–	0 of 30
Drought	3	0	0	0	–	3 of 30

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: every record counted once in the state; "last 10 years" is 2017-2026 (2026 to June 30, 2026).

What were the deadliest disasters in Alaska?

The storms with the most deaths since 1950, from the National Weather Service's own entries. NOAA files one storm as several records when it crosses forecast zones and counties or changes type, and groups them under one episode; each row here is an episode, with its totals and the narrative of its deadliest record. Before 1996 tornado records carry no episode and stand alone. The narrative says what happened: some deaths the National Weather Service files under a weather type had another cause beside the weather.

Alaska: the 10 storm episodes with the most deaths
Date	Record	Killed	Injured	Damage
2023-11-20	Debris FlowWrangell One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A hurricane-force 964 mb low lifted out of the North Pacific and into the Gulf of Alaska through the early morning hours of November 20, 2023. This low-pressure system continued on a north-northwest track, with the warm front moving over the southern and central Panhandle through the day and the front pushing north ...	6	1	$2.1M
2015-08-18	Flash FloodSitka One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. A strong front moved through the Panhandle on the morning of Tuesday August 18th. This system had abundant amount of moisture associated with the cold front as the system originated from the North Pacific and was able to tap into tropical moisture. The front produced very heavy precipitation along coastal locations ...	6	0	$4.2M
1999-03-21	AvalancheCook Inlet · forecast zone Cook Inlet A tragic avalanche, adjacent to Turnagain Pass on Saturday, took the lives of 6 people. After days of searching by many volunteers, 5 bodies were recovered. The avalanche was triggered by snowmachiners 'high-marking' on the mountain slope during a warm, sunny day...after heavy snows several days before.	6	0	$44K
1999-03-18	Ice StormHoonah-Angoon Census Area and Sitka City and Borough · forecast zone Pribilof Islands An extremely intense storm moved up toward the extreme Western Aleutians late Tuesday continuing to just south of Adak as a 946mb center 9pm Wednesday. The low began an eastward turn while starting to very slowly weaken during the next 24 hours...moving to 180 miles south of Cold Bay as a 959mb center at 9 pm ...	5	0	–
2002-05-07	Flash FloodSouthwest Portion A breaking ice jam on the Stony River, and the inflow to the Kuskokwim River contributed to significant river rises at Sleetmute and Red Devil by the 7th of May. This resulted in execution of an evacuation plan at Red Devil. By the 11th of May, Sleetmute was experiencing the highest breakup rise in recent memory. All ...	3	0	$1.6M
2000-01-26	Winter StormCook Inlet · forecast zone Cook Inlet One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places, 2000-01-26 to 2000-01-27; the totals are the episode's. A complex low, preceded by a northward moving front through Prince William Sound and the Kenai Peninsula, moved northward through Prince William Sound Wednesday. On the 'heels' of the low, modified arctic air poured east and southeastward into the Cook Inlet area from the western Alaska range, enhancing snowfall. ...	3	0	$21K
2002-01-12	AvalancheValdez-Cordova Census Area and Matanuska-Susitna Borough · forecast zone Copper River Basin Three people were buried by an avalanche while snowmachining on an unsupported cornice. One was dug out of the snow by her husband.	2	1	$10K
2001-02-03	AvalancheAnchorage Municipality and Matanuska-Susitna Borough · forecast zone Matanuska Valley A group of snowmachiners Saturday triggered an avalanche on a slope south of Eureka, near the east fork of the Matanuska River. The avalanche killed two members of the group and slightly injured a third man, who was carried downslope and trapped beneath his snowmachine until he was freed.	2	1	–
2015-03-12	Cold/Wind ChillFairbanks North Star Borough and Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area · forecast zone Middle Tanana Valley Near record cold temperatures on the night of the 12th and the morning of the 13th resulted in two unrelated fatalities. A 30 YOM died from exposure near the University of Alaska-Fairbanks campus along a bike path. Another man whose age is unknown, also died from exposure on the east side of Fairbanks, his body ...	2	0	–
2009-02-18	BlizzardNorthwest Arctic Borough · forecast zone Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley A 970 mb low in the central Bering Sea on the afternoon of the 17th tracked to the southern Chukchi Sea on the afternoon of the 18th, and then along the arctic coast on the 19th. This storm system brought heavy snow and blizzard conditions to much of northern Alaska. High winds were also observed in the passes of the ...	2	0	–

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed in this state, summed over the records of each episode (EPISODE_ID); a forecast-zone record counts the zone's deaths once. A tornado's whole-track deaths (SPC), on the state's tornado page, can be higher when the track crossed a state line. Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest records in Alaska

Alaska: the 8 records with the most damage since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Killed	Damage
2006-10-09	FloodValdez	0	$39M
2011-11-08	Coastal FloodNome Census Area · forecast zone Srn Seward Peninsula Coast	0	$31M
2006-08-18	FloodCountywide	0	$29M
2020-12-01	Debris FlowHaines	2	$23M
2004-10-19	Storm Surge/TideNome Census Area · forecast zone Srn Seward Peninsula Coast	0	$22M
2015-05-20	FloodDeadhorse	0	$19M
2013-05-27	FloodGalena	0	$19M
1996-06-02	WildfireBig Lake	0	$19M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. BLS consumer price index.

Which counties in Alaska have the most records?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950 attributed to each county (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).

Every county in Alaska

Billion-dollar disasters in Alaska

NOAA counted 8 weather or climate disasters from 1980-2024 that cost at least $1 billion (adjusted for inflation) and affected Alaska, led by wildfire (8). The most recent: Western Wildfires (2022); California and Alaska Wildfires (2019); Western and Alaskan Wildfires (2015).

Alaska: billion-dollar disasters by type, 1980-2024
Type	Events	Total cost (NOAA's range)
Wildfire	8	$2.0B-$5.0B

Every one of the 8, newest first

Western Wildfires2022
California and Alaska Wildfires2019
Western and Alaskan Wildfires2015
Western Wildfires2009
Western Wildfires2007
Numerous Wildfires2006
California Wildfires2003
Western Fire Season2002

Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, state summary for Alaska, 1980-2024 (NCEI's last update; the product is archived). A disaster that affected several states counts in each. NCEI billion-dollar disasters.

Federal disaster declarations in Alaska

FEMA has made 95 declarations for Alaska since 1953: 66 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 26 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are fire (30), severe storm (25), flood (19).

1950s 3
1960s 3
1970s 9
1980s 5
1990s 7
2000s 22
2010s 20
2020s 26

The 15 most recent declarations in Alaska
Declared	Number	Type	Title	Areas named
2026-08-18	FM-5672	Fire	Mukluk Fire	1
2026-05-29	DR-4912	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, and Remnants of Typhoon Halong	1
2026-04-07	DR-4904	Winter Storm	Severe Storm	1
2025-10-22	DR-4893	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, and Remnants of Typhoon Halong	10
2025-07-06	FM-5597	Fire	Nenana Ridge Complex	2
2025-06-23	FM-5596	Fire	Himalaya Road Fire	1
2025-06-23	FM-5595	Fire	Bear Creek Fire	1
2025-01-15	DR-4859	Severe Storm	Severe Storm and Flooding	2
2025-01-10	DR-4857	Severe Storm	Severe Storm and Flooding	1
2025-01-01	DR-4853	Severe Storm	Severe Storm and Flooding	1
2024-11-13	DR-4846	Mud/Landslide	Landslides	1
2024-10-16	DR-4836	Flood	Flooding	1
2024-04-06	DR-4767	Mud/Landslide	Severe Storm, Flooding, and Landslides	3
2024-03-15	DR-4763	Mud/Landslide	Severe Storm, Landslides, and Mudslides	2
2023-08-23	DR-4730	Flood	Flooding	10

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Flood insurance claims in Alaska

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $16.2 million on 779 claims in 15 Alaska counties. Claims count insured losses only.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk across Alaska's counties

How FEMA's National Risk Index rates Alaska's counties overall: a model of expected future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of events.

Relatively High 1
Relatively Moderate 3
Relatively Low 7
Very Low 19

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