10 Kuskokwim Delta villages named in flood outlooks for Friday

High water flowing down the Kuskokwim River and storm surge pushing up it are expected to meet at Friday's high tide. The National Weather Service says bankfull conditions or minor flooding are possible at five river communities: Bethel, Napakiak, Nunapitchuk, Kasigluk and Tuntutuliak, plus the Johnson River reach. The service also warns that strong onshore winds could bring erosion and minor coastal flooding to five coastal villages: Kongiganak, Kwigillingok, Kipnuk, Toksook Bay and Tununak. The service advised residents to monitor the forecast and prepare to act if minor flooding develops.

The Anchorage office issued the two outlooks at 4:41 p.m. and 4:48 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8. The highest river water is expected from about 11 a.m. through 4 p.m. Friday. On the coast, the peak runs from about 10 a.m. through 2 p.m., with south to southwesterly winds gusting 30 to 45 mph from about 4 p.m. Thursday to 4 p.m. Friday. Toksook Bay and Tununak may see higher water on Thursday's tide as well. The Bethel window does not line up with the station's predicted astronomical high tides, at 5:29 a.m. and 5:41 p.m.

At Bethel, the river stood at 6.51 feet late on Sept. 8, which the service classifies as no flooding. Action and bankfull stage is 7 feet. Minor flood stage is 8.5 feet, at which water backs up along Brown Slough and floods low-lying areas. The service notes the reading is affected by ocean tides year-round and that the wire weight gauge does not meet U.S. Geological Survey quality standards.

Upstream, McGrath rose from 15.16 feet on Sept. 5 to 19.37 feet in the early hours of Sept. 9, carrying 63,000 cubic feet per second. The service forecasts McGrath at 19.55 feet, action stage, on Sept. 10. Crooked Creek rose from 13.24 feet on Sept. 1 to 15.57 feet on the evening of Sept. 8.

The outlooks give no forecast crest for any of the 10 communities, and the Bethel gauge produces only observed stages. Bethel's record crest, 14.42 feet on May 19, 1976, and its next seven highest readings, are all breakup floods. Low-lying areas there and in nearby lower Kuskokwim villages flooded again behind an ice jam near Napakiak in May 2026.

A deep low tracking from Kamchatka northeast through Siberia toward the Chukchi Sea from Wednesday into Friday drives both offices' products. That system is separate from the one that had been over Bristol Bay. A third outlook, from the Fairbanks office, warns of possibly more than 2 inches of rain and significant small-stream rises on the southern slopes of the western Brooks Range, with no flooding expected on the Kobuk, Noatak or Wulik rivers.

No resident, tribal administrator, city official, regional organization or state emergency official appears in the forecast record. Outlooks expire within about a day and are reissued or replaced.