High Surf, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley
- When
- May 30, 3:00 PM AKST to 9:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Reported by
- NWS Employee
High Surf in Alaska, May 30, 2011
Ice from the Kotzebue sound got pushed ashore from the 28th through the 30th. A prolonged period of west winds of 10 to 20 mph caused large chunks of ice, some 10 to 20 feet high to slide over concrete block matting along the shore line and across Shore Avenue.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $15,000
- 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.
Ice from the Kotzebue sound got pushed ashore from the 28th through the 30th. A prolonged period of west winds of 10 to 20 mph caused large chunks of ice, some 10 to 20 feet high to slide over concrete block matting along the shore line and across Shore Avenue. It was not until the afternoon of the 30th that the ice pushed far enough ashore to damage the wall of a house and caused damage to the deck on another home. Interestingly, the push of ice that occurred on the afternoon of the 30th corresponded with low tide.
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 May 30, 11:39 AM AKST, 3 hours 21 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 30, 11:39 AM AKST, 3 hours 21 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 1239 PM AKDT MON MAY 30 2011 .DISCUSSION... CURRENT MODELS AGREE WELL OUT THROUGH 00Z THU. LITTLE CHANGE EXPECTED IN STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL/EASTERN INTERIOR AND BROOKS RANGE THROUGH 00Z WED... RIDGE NARROWS NARROW BY 00Z THU WITH AXIS EXTENDING FROM NORTH OF WRANGEL ISLAND SOUTHEASTWARD TO THE EASTERN BROOKS RANGE AND INTO CANADA. SHORT WAVE WELL TO THE SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE NORTHWARD AND DEEPEN THROUGH 12Z TUE. CLOSED UPPER LOW DEVELOPING OVER THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS AROUND 12Z TUE WILL DEEPEN AS IT MOVES TO SOUTH OF ST MATTHEW ISLAND BY 12Z WED. 850 MB TEMPERATURES OVER INTERIOR WILL CONTINUE TO BE WELL ABOVE CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMALS THROUGH WED...MANY LOCATIONS WILL CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 70S TO LOW 80S...WITH SOME ISOLATED HIGHER READINGS. INCREASING CHANCE OF RAIN OVER THE FAR SOUTHWEST INTERIOR AND THE WEST COAST SOUTH OF NORTON SOUND TUESDAY...AND OVER MOST OF THE WEST COAST WEDNESDAY AS A SURFACE LOW AND ASSOCIATED FRONTAL SYSTEM MOVE NORTHWARD. MARINE WINDS...NE WINDS INCREASING TO AROUND 25 KT OVER PKZ200-PKZ210 TUE MORNING...NORTHEAST GALES DEVELOPING SOUTHERN PARTS PKZ210 TUE AFTERNOON. WINDS IN OTHER MARINE ZONES REMAINING BELOW ADVISORY THROUGH TUE. THUNDERSTORMS... THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING...WEAK THERMAL TROUGH EXTENDS FROM ARCTIC VILLAGE SOUTHEASTWARD INTO THE YUKON TERRITORY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED IN AKZ217-AKZ219-WESTERN AKZ220-EASTERN AKZ216-AKZ221-AKZ222-AKZ223-NORTHWESTERN AKZ224. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED IN SOUTHEASTERN AKZ224- AKZ225-AKZ226. TUE AFTERNOON/EVENING...THERMAL TROUGH AXIS IS EXPECTED TO EXTEND GALENA-FT YUKON-EASTWARD INTO THE YUKON TERRITORY...WEAK THERMAL LOW CENTER NEAR FT YUKON. THE GREATEST INSTABILITY WILL BE OVER THE NORTHEASTERN INTERIOR. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED IN AKZ220-EASTERN AKZ219-AKZ220-AKZ222-AKZ224. EXTENDED OUTLOOK... INTERIOR TEMPERATURES COOLING TO NEAR NORMAL VALUES THU INTO THE WEEKEND AS THE UPPER RIDGE WEAKENS AND IS PUSHED NORTHEASTWARD...TO BE REPLACED BY A TROUGH ORIENTED EAST-WEST ACROSS THE BERING AND INTERIOR OVER THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. && .FIRE WEATHER... DRY CONDITIONS CONTINUING OVER THE INTERIOR THROUGH TUE. MIN RH IN INTERIOR AREAS WILL BE GENERALLY IN THE RANGE FROM 20 TO 30 PERCENT. SOUTHERLY GAP WINDS GUSTS TO 25-40 MPH DEVELOPING IN AND NEAR ALASKA RANGE PASSES IN AKZ223-AKZ225- AKZ226 TUE COMBINED WITH RH BELOW 30 PERCENT MAY PRODUCE RED FLAG CONDITIONS IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. FIRE WEATHER WATCHES WILL BE ISSUED FOR TUE IN AKZ223-AKZ225-AKZ226. AFTERNOON/EVENING GAP WINDS EXPECTED AGAIN WED BUT MAY BE WEAKER...THERMAL TROUGH AXIS MIGRATING SOUTHWARD TO HUSLIA- FAIRBANKS-CHICKEN BY WED AFTERNOON. && .HYDROLOGY... FLOOD ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM TODAY FOR THE COLVILLE RIVER NEAR COLVILLE VILLAGE. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ210. FLOOD ADVISORY FOR THE COLVILLE RIVER NEAR COLVILLE VILLAGE. && RF MAY 11
Event by event
1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Heat in Illinois, May 30, 2011
- Tornadoes and Hail in North Dakota, May 30, 2011
- Heat in Alabama, May 30, 2011
- Tornado and Hail in Nebraska, May 30, 2011
- Heat in Pennsylvania, May 30, 2011
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Minnesota, May 30 to 31, 2011
- Tornadoes and Hail in Nebraska, May 30, 2011
- Tornadoes and Hail in South Dakota, May 30, 2011
- Flash Flooding in New Hampshire, May 30 to 31, 2011
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Minnesota, May 30, 2011
- Flash Flooding in Vermont, May 30, 2011
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 30 to 31, 2011
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 2011
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: 300437.