Coastal Flood — Bristol Bay, Alaska

2021-12-08 to 2021-12-09 · Bristol Bay, Alaska

Event narrative

Water over an Access Road near the harbor in Dillingham on Thu evening. (12/9)

Called Mitch (Port officer in Naknek) -- he said there were no known impacts, however in his 18 years of working there, he has never seen the water that high at the dock in Naknek...at high tide during the event, the water level rose to 1 foot below the dock. Mitch also mentioned precipitation went from SN to RA back to SN. He estimates he walked through about 2 ft drifts, but thinks actual snowfall was closer to 1 foot during this event. He also mentioned it was very windy.

Wider weather episode

A north to south oriented frontal boundary brought periods of heavy snow, avalanche conditions, lowered visibilities, high winds and strong surf from west to east over the course of several days as the front shifted slowly east and developed into a triple point low over the western Gulf. Strong upper level dynamics and a deep moisture fetch made this an impactful storm for southern Alaska.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1007231. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.