Name: High Surf in Alaska, August 7, 2005
Start: 2005-08-07T08:00
End: 2005-08-07T13:00
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS AFG wrote it up.

Southwest winds around 20 knots or 25 mph added to a swell which created high surf in Norton Sound. Some erosion occured on the road between Nome and Council, between mile 21 and 23; road was still passable to heavy trucks. Property damage amount to the road is unknown.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 7, 5:00 AM AST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 7, 5:00 AM AST, 3 hours before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM ADT SUN AUG 7 2005

.DISCUSSION...MAMMOTH BLOCKING HIGH (NEAR 590 DM AT 500 BY WED)
NOW BUILDING OVER MAINLAND ALASKA WILL DOMINATE OUR WEATHER FOR
AT LEAST THE NEXT WEEK AND PROBABLY LONGER. IN THE SHORT TERM
THOUGH...COMPLEX BERING SEA FRONTAL SYSTEM STARTING TO WIND
DOWN..BUT STILL A SIGNIFICANT SET OF FEATURES. FIRST FRONT NOW
MOVING INTO WESTERN ALASKA...WITH NEXT WAVE APPROACHING THE
WESTERN ALEUTIANS. FIRST TROUGH WILL MOVE RAPIDLY EASTWARD...AND
THE SURFACE FRONT WILL BE WELL EAST OF ALASKA 18 HOURS HENCE.
RAINFALL WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL BE CONFINED TO NORTH SLOPE AND
NORTHERN INTERIOR. NEXT SYSTEM WILL TRACK FARTHER WEST BEFORE
TURNING EASTWARD.

AT THE SURFACE...988 MB LOW NEAR WRANGEL ISLAND MOVING NORTH.
ASSOCIATED OCCLUSION IN ARC FROM LOW TO CAPE LISBURNE TO GOLOVIN
AND SWWD WILL BE FROM PRUDHOE BAY TO NOME BY 00Z...THEREAFTER
THE WEST COAST PORTION MOVING BACK NORTHWARD AS A WARM FRONT.
MEANWHILE...BROAD HIGH PRESSURE OVER SOUTHWESTERN MAINLAND ALASKA
WILL CONSOLIDATE TO 1030 MB CENTER NEAR MCGRATH MONDAY MORNING.

MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON BASIC IDEA. ETA..WHICH HAS BEEN WILDLY
OVER FORECASTING RAINFALL IN THE INTERIOR OF LATE...CONTINUES TO
HAVE PROBLEMS IN THE SHORT TERM. ALL MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON
THE HUGE UPPER HIGH PARKING ITSELF OVER ALASKA. MID WEEK AND
THENCE REMAINING FOR A LONG TIME TO COME.

FOR THE NORTH SLOPE...HIGH WIND WARNING CONTINUING FOR THE
CAPE LISBURNE AREA UNTIL WINDS SHIFT SW. WE WILL HAVE TO KEEP AN
EYE ON CHUKCHI COAST NORTH TO BARROW FOR HIGH SURF ISSUES AS
BRIEF PERIOD OF 25-30 KT WESTERLY WINDS POST-FRONTALLY AS SURFACE
LOW MOVES NORTHWARD. HOWEVER..WITH WINDS COMING PACK AROUND TO
SOUTH SUN NIGHT AND MONDAY...AT THIS TIME ODDS SEEM AGAINST
SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS. MORE RAIN MONDAY/TUESDAY AS NEXT TROUGH
MOVES OVER TOP OF THE BUILDING RIDGE.

FOR THE WEST COAST...HIGH SURF ADVISORIES WILL BE WINDING DOWN
NEXT 18 HOURS. NEXT FEATURE WILL LIKELY CONFINE THE RAINFALL TO
WEST OF 165W LEAST SOUTH OF THE BERING STRAIT AND WEST OF 160W
NORTH OF THE STRAIT. THEREAFTER RIDGING WILL PUSH EVEN FARTHER
WEST...LIKELY CONFINING THE RAIN TO SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND ONLY.

FOR THE INTERIOR...GIVEN THE LACK OF RAIN SO FAR IN THE
EXTREME NORTHWEST (UPPER KOBUK & NOATAK VALLEYS)...THE PROSPECT
OF ANY RAIN EVEN INTO ZONES 218 AND 219 APPEARS SLIM...MOS TOO
HIGH WITH POPS. CLOUDS SHOULD CLEAR FROM THE SOUTH STARTING
LATE SUNDAY. BY TUESDAY...SMOKE AND POSSIBLE RECORD HIGH
TEMPS WILL BE THE MAJOR ISSUES.

.HYDRO...NONE
.FIRE WEATHER...NONE NOW BUT UPCOMING HOT AND (CONTINUED) DRY
WEATHER WILL LIKELY BE A CONCERN.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING CAPE LISBURNE AREA ZONE 201 TODAY.
HIGH SURF ADVISORY ZONES 211...212 AND NORTHERN 207
MARINE...SCA 200..215..230..240. GALE 205..220..225..235

RT AUG 05

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 7, 2:37 AM AST, 5 hours 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
337 AM ADT SUN AUG 07 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0841 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST 58 N NOME               65.35N 165.41W
08/06/2005  47 MPH                              AK   OTHER FEDERAL

            QUARTZ CREEK RAWS

&&

RT

Local storm report, Aug 7, 2:42 AM AST, 5 hours 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
342 AM ADT SUN AUG 07 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0255 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST CAPE LISBURNE           68.88N 166.11W
08/06/2005  56 MPH                              AK   AWOS

&&

RT

Event by event

1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, Srn Seward Peninsula Coast

When: August 7, 8:00 AM AST to 1:00 PM AST
Where: Srn Seward Peninsula Coast forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

What these are

High Surf: Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, August 2005

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5470837.