Coastal Flood, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM AKST to 3:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- Emergency Manager
Coastal Flood in Alaska, August 1, 2008
Event continued from July. A 980 mb low pressure center moved counter-clockwise across the southern Beaufort Sea during 29th through Aug 1st, bringing several periods of west winds 30 to 50 mph across the Arctic Coast of Alaska.
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
- 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.
Event continued from July. A 980 mb low pressure center moved counter-clockwise across the southern Beaufort Sea during 29th through Aug 1st, bringing several periods of west winds 30 to 50 mph across the Arctic Coast of Alaska. This caused a combination of high surf and elevated ocean water levels which destroyed the seawall and threatened 3 structures at the village of Wainwright on the western coast, and damaged the seawall and half of the airstrip at the village of Kaktovik, on the far eastern coast. On Aug 1, a father and his 13-year-old son in an open skiff perished in Camden Bay under strong winds as they were boating from their camp to Kaktovik. Property Damage Estimated at $7 million for Wainwright Seawall; $800,000 for Kaktovik Seawall and Airstrip.
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 Jul 31, 1:34 PM AKST, 10 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 1:34 PM AKST, 10 hours 26 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 234 PM AKDT THU JUL 31 2008 .DISCUSSION...DEEP VERTICALLY STACKED 514 DM UPPER LOW WITH 981 MB SURFACE REFLECTION 300 NM N OF PABA IS MAIN INFLUENCE ON FORECAST AREA TODAY. LATEST BAROCLINIC BAND WITH MOISTURE FEED EXTENDING E FROM CHUKOTKA IN FAST CYCLONIC FLOW AROUND BOTTOM OF THE LOW IS BATHING THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE INTERIOR IN LATEST RAIN EPISODE. MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT SHOWING THIS BAND SLIDING S AND E TONIGHT FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER QUICKLY ON ITS HEELS FRI. QPFS FOR INTERIOR AND AK RANGE UNDER THESE WILL BE 1-3 INCHES BY FRI AFTERNOON. THIS WILL ENHANCE CURRENT FLOODING OVER RIVERS ZONES 221...222...AND 225 THROUGH FRIDAY. COLDEST AIR ADJACENT TO UPPER LOW ACROSS N SLOPE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING MIXED PRECIP THERE TONIGHT...BUT SOME WARMING TOMORROW WILL ENSURE LIQUID PRECIP THEN AND THEREAFTER. A SMALL 1000 MB OR SO LOW WILL TRAVERSE THE CHUKCHI SEA FRI AND BRIEFLY KICK UP SW WINDS ALONG COAST NEAR PAVL DURING THE DAY. ISSUED HEAVY SURF ADVISORY TO COVER THIS FOR PAVL. MODELS SHOW A DEEPER UPPER LOW SINKING S OVER THE WRN INTERIOR SAT THEN TRAVERSING E THROUGH SAT NIGHT. THIS WILL BRING YET MORE RAIN TO THE SOAKED INTERIOR THEN...BUT AT THIS POINT IT APPEARS IT WILL HAVE A MUCH WEAKER MOISTURE FEED AND THEREFORE LOWER RAINFALL AMOUNTS. GFS/ECMWF ALSO SHOW YET ANOTHER SYSTEM FOLLOWING THIS ONE FOR LATE SUN INTO MON...SIMILAR TO THE SAT SYSTEM. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...COULD SEE ADDITIONAL HIGH SURF CHUKCHI SEA COAST SUN AS SECOND LOW APPROACHES. && .FIRE WEATHER...NO SIGNIFICANT ISSUES. && .HYDROLOGY...HIGH WATER EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WITH TODAY/TONIGHT RAINS ON TANANA AND SALCHA RIVERS. RIVERS/STREAMS IN ZONE 225 ALSO WILL RISE. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR AKZ207. FLOOD WATCH FOR AKZ225. FLOOD WARNING ZONES 221...222 FOR TANANA RIVER FAIRBANKS TO MANLEY HOT SPRINGS. FLOOD WARNING ZONES 222 AND 223 FOR SALCHA RIVER. FLOOD ADVISORY ZONE 222 FOR CHENA RIVER MILE 40 TO NORTH POLE. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ235-PKZ240-PKZ245. && MAR JUL 08
Event by event
1 coastal flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal Flood, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast | 2008-08-01 | 13 | Male | Boating | Direct |
| Coastal Flood, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast | 2008-08-01 | 65 | Male | Boating | Direct |
What these are
- Coastal Flood
- Flooding of coastal land by the sea, from storm surge, onshore wind or high tides.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Excessive Heat in Oklahoma, August 1 to 5, 2008
- Excessive Heat in Texas, August 1 to 2, 2008
- Excessive Heat in Arizona, August 1 to 3, 2008
- Heat in Nevada, August 1 to 4, 2008
- Heat in Oklahoma, August 1 to 2, 2008
- Rip Current in New Jersey, August 1, 2008
- Wildfire in Colorado, August 1, 2008
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, August 1 to 3, 2008
- Drought in Texas, August 1 to 18, 2008
- Flash Flood in Vermont, August 1 to 2, 2008
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, August 1, 2008
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Indiana, August 1, 2008
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, August 2008
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: 119800.