Damn Near Hurricane Hitting Northern Alaska Right Now

[Lamar_Mundane]

This is crazy. A huge storm is in the Bering Sea, heading in the vicinity of Nome, AK. It is likely the largest ever recorded, and it is November 8th! Sustained winds of 60-70 miles an hour are forecast. 75 mph would make it a hurricane.

Blizzard warnings are up all over, and a storm surge of 7-9 feet is expected, since there is no sea ice.

This is just nutso weather for November, and a weather nerds dream. I am trying to find webcam or TV coverage of it. Is it too late to get Jim Cantore up there?

… ALASKA WEST COAST TO BE HIT BY ONE OF THE MOST SEVERE BERING SEA STORMS ON RECORD…

A POWERFUL AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM OF NEAR RECORD OR RECORD MAGNITUDE IS BEARING DOWN ON THE WEST COAST OF ALASKA. AT 9 AM THIS MORNING THE STORM CENTER WAS LOCATED ABOUT 600 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ST LAWRENCE ISLAND. THE STORM IS FORECAST TO MOVE RAPIDLY NORTHEAST TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH THE CENTER MOVING ACROSS THE CHUKOTSK PENINSULA TONIGHT. ON WEDNESDAY THE STORM WILL TAKE A NORTHWESTWARD TRACK INTO THE CHUKCHI SEA.

THE STORM WILL BRING EXTREMELY STRONG WINDS TO ALL OF THE ALASKA WEST COAST BEGINNING THIS AFTERNOON OVER ST LAWRENCE ISLAND AND BEGINNING THIS EVENING OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE WEST COAST… ACCOMPANIED BY WIDESPREAD MAJOR COASTAL FLOODING AND SEVERE BEACH EROSION OVER MANY PARTS OF THE COASTLINE. THE WIND WILL PUSH LARGE AMOUNTS OF WATER INTO NORTON SOUND… RAISING SEA LEVELS TO 7 TO 9 FEET ABOVE NORMAL IN NORTON SOUND AND ALONG THE BERING STRAIT COAST. THE EXTREMELY STRONG WINDS WILL PRODUCE HIGH WAVES WHICH WILL PUSH THE HIGH WATER FARTHER INLAND.

OVER THE BERING STRAIT COAST AND ST LAWRENCE ISLAND… SUSTAINED WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH 75 MPH WITH MAXIMUM GUSTS OF 90 TO 100 MPH. ALONG THE CHUKCHI COAST… WIND SPEEDS OF 65 TO 70 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 90 MPH ARE EXPECTED. IN THE NOME AREA… SUSTAINED WINDS AS HIGH AS 60 MPH ARE EXPECTED… WITH GUSTS TO 70 MPH. ALMOST ALL OTHER AREAS OF THE WEST COAST WILL EXPERIENCE MAXIMUM WIND SPEEDS OF AT LEAST 50 TO 60 MPH.

WIDESPREAD MAJOR COASTAL FLOODING AND SEVERE BEACH EROSION IS EXPECTED IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:

1. THE BERING SEA COAST FROM CAPE ROMANZOF TO POINT ROMANOF… ESPECIALLY THE WEST FACING SHORES. 2. ALL AREAS ALONG THE EASTERN AND NORTHERN SHORE OF NORTON SOUND WESTWARD TO AND INCLUDING THE BERING STRAIT COAST AND LITTLE DIOMEDE ISLAND. 3. SOUTH AND WEST FACING COASTLINE OF ST LAWRENCE ISLAND. 4. THE CHUKCHI SEA COAST FROM CAPE KRUSENSTERN TO POINT HOPE.

THIS INCLUDES THE VILLAGES OF NOME AND KIVALINA WHERE MAJOR DAMAGE FROM COASTAL FLOODING AND STRONG WINDS IS EXPECTED. THE VILLAGE OF SAVOONGA ON THE NORTH SHORE OF ST LAWRENCE ISLAND WILL BE PROTECTED FROM COASTAL FLOODING BUT WILL EXPERIENCE EXTREMELY STRONG AND DAMAGING WINDS.

ADDITIONALLY… HIGH SEA LEVELS IN NORTON SOUND WILL CAUSE COASTAL FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREAS ALONG THE SOUTHERN SHORE.

THE STORM WILL PRODUCE BLIZZARD OR NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVER MOST AREAS OF THE WESTERN ALASKA MAINLAND… WITH VISIBILITY REDUCED TO NEAR ZERO IN SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW. PEOPLE ARE URGED TO SEEK SHELTER NOW AND POSTPONE TRAVEL INTO THE BACK COUNTRY UNTIL THE STORM ABATES.

ALL BOAT OPERATORS SHOULD SEEK SAFETY IN PORT IMMEDIATELY IF THEY HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO. IN AREAS WHERE BEACH EROSION AND COASTAL FLOODING IS EXPECTED… SMALL BOATS AND PERSONAL PROPERTY SHOULD BE MOVED WELL AWAY FROM THE SHORE AND TO HIGHER GROUND.

AGAIN… THIS WILL BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING STORM OF AN EPIC MAGNITUDE RARELY EXPERIENCED. ALL PEOPLE IN THE AREA SHOULD TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO SAFEGUARD THEIR LIVES AND PROPERTY.

RF

When the National Weather Service goes all-caps you know it’s serious.

[phouka]

Screw Jim Cantore! Are there any Dopers up there?

[johnpost]

@Lamar_Mundane

When the National Weather Service goes all-caps you know it’s serious.

all their watches, warnings and advisories are in upper case all the time.

sounds like big weather for sure.

[Finagle]

Huh. Is this crab fishing season? The Discovery Channel could be getting some unexpectedly exciting footage right now.

[Chefguy]

@phouka

Screw Jim Cantore! Are there any Dopers up there?

The western coast of Alaska is very sparsely populated, mostly with Alaska Natives living in villages. This is far from the worst storm to ever hit that area: I’ve personally experienced winds over 100 mph on the Alaska coast (within the last ten years), and it’s a very common phenomenon. Our radar sites used to routinely report anemometer readings that well-exceeded the century mark. The fact that it’s accompanied by so much moisture is the problem, of course, as rime ice buildup can cause huge problems.

[Bootis]

@Chefguy

This is far from the worst storm to ever hit that area

I don’t know, it sounds like its one of the worst ever- it may not be the worst storm ever to hit the region, but if it’s the worst in nearly 40 years, I’d say its not too far from the worst ever.

[QUOTE=National Weather Service]
… ALASKA WEST COAST TO BE HIT BY ONE OF THE MOST SEVERE BERING SEA STORMS ON RECORD…

A POWERFUL AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM OF NEAR RECORD OR RECORD MAGNITUDE IS BEARING DOWN ON THE WEST COAST OF ALASKA.
[/QUOTE]

This is a storm of epic proportions," said meteorologist Jeff Osiensky with the National Weather Service…The last time the communities saw something similar was in November 1974, when a storm created a sea surge that measured more than 13 feet. The surge pushed beach driftwood above the level of the previous storm of its type in 1913.

[Lamar_Mundane]

It was definitely one of, if not the worst, to hit the area. Wind gusts with this storm were over 100 mph as well, but that is no way to determine storm strength. This was almost 1,000 miles wide, with a pressure of 940 millibars. That is a lower pressure than your average hurricane, and this was near the arctic circle, not in the tropics.

[Chefguy]

@Lamar_Mundane

It was definitely one of, if not the worst, to hit the area. Wind gusts with this storm were over 100 mph as well, but that is no way to determine storm strength. This was almost 1,000 miles wide, with a pressure of 940 millibars. That is a lower pressure than your average hurricane, and this was near the arctic circle, not in the tropics.

I’ll agree that in terms of size and pressure, it’s a major storm. In terms of wind velocity in that region, not so much. There was some flooding in Nome and some roofing taken off, but the photos didn’t look like any sort of major devastation took place, and a lot of them showed folks down by the beach taking photos of the waves.