Flood and High Wind in Alaska, August 29, 2000

One of the first major Bering Sea storms of the year moved into the southern Bering Sea Sunday, continuing steadily north Monday and Tuesday. The storm began to slowly weaken as it moved into the Chukotsk Peninsula late Tuesday and Wednesday.While brisk southeasterly winds were observed in advance of the front associated with the storm, stronger southwesterly winds on the 'back side' of the storm were the real weather problem. Typically, these fall storms can bring significant coastal flooding to the southwest coast of the State. Fortunately for those residing along coastal areas of Bristol Bay and the Kuskokwim Delta, residents had ample lead time (nearly 48 hours) to prepare for the impending situation. Gusts above 60 mph were recorded along the south and southwest side of the storm. Moderately large areas of open water in the south Bering, combined with the strong onshore winds, presented the possibility of coastal flooding across low lying areas of the southwest coast. In fact, high water levels were observed around Bethel, along with a few boats swamped. There were also reports of beach erosion and high water at several coastal villages, along with at least one report of damaged boardwalks. Fortunately, the onset of the strong southwest winds did not directly correspond to the high tide. In fact, most areas were just coming off of low tide when the strong winds hit. The prolonged blow, however, did manage to keep water high into the following high tide period, when damage developed.Wind gusts across the Pribilofs were reported at or above 60 mph from just after 3 am until 8 am Tuesday, August 29. Highest gusts reached 61 mph at Saint Paul between 4:53 am ADT and 5:53 am ADT Tuesday, with westerly wind gusts of 63 mph recorded at Saint George between 5:07 am and 5:53 am ADT on the same day.Along the southwest coast, Cape Newenham recorded at least one wind gust of 61 mph between 5:55 am and 6:55 am ADT Tuesday.