Coastal Flood — Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula, Alaska

2011-02-25 to 2011-02-26 · Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Wider weather episode

A 968 mb low in the central Bering Sea at 2100AKST on the 23rd moved to the Gulf of Anadyr as a 976 mb low at 0900AKST on the 24th. The low tracked to the northeast as a 978 mb low in the southern Chukchi Sea at 2100AKST on the 24th. The low then tracked to the east and passed just south of Banks Island as a 980 mb low by 0900AKST on the 25th. The storm produced areas of coastal flooding along parts of the northwest coast of Alaska.

Zone 207: At least 32 musk oxen perished, likely due to coastal flooding in the Bering Sea Land Bridge National Preserve along the northern Seward Peninsula Coast. The mush oxen were found about three weeks after the storm by researchers in the area. There are no tide gages along the northern Seward Peninsula, but based on the gage at Red Dog Dock on the other side of the Kotzebue Sound the inundation likely occurred on the 24th. At Shishmaref, overflow from the lagoon side of the village came close to a number of homes, but there was no flooding.

Zone 209: The storm caused a surge of water under the sea ice in the Kotzebue Sound. The surge lifted and broke shore ice along the coast. The water levels rose

and reached the edge of Front Street in Kotzebue around 1200AKST on the 25th. The water flowed into other low lying areas around the city and the water flowed underneath some buildings along the shore. The buildings are all built on pilings and they did not flood, but access to some of the buildings was inundated by water. The water levels receded by 1300AKST on the 26th. There was no significant damage reported as a result of the flooding.

Zone 210: At Deering, high water was noted on both the Inmachuk River and along the Kotzebue Sound. There was water across the road from the village to the airstrip. The runway at the airstrip was washed out due to the inundation of water from the Kotzebue Sound. At Buckland, water backed up along the Buckland River; however, there were no reports of flooding.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 279771. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.