Alaska, 2012

Coastal Flood in Alaska, August 25, 2012

August 25, 2012 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 984 mb low near Point Hope at 2100AKST on the evening of the 24th weakened to 991 mb between Point Hope and Point Lay at 0300AKST on the morning of the 25th. The low drifted to near Barrow and weakened to 998 mb by 2100AKST on the evening of the 25th.

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.

A 984 mb low near Point Hope at 2100AKST on the evening of the 24th weakened to 991 mb between Point Hope and Point Lay at 0300AKST on the morning of the 25th. The low drifted to near Barrow and weakened to 998 mb by 2100AKST on the evening of the 25th. A west to southwest winds increased to 25 to 40 mph late on the evening of the 24th and continued into the early morning hours of the 25th. It was estimated that seas may have built as high as 13 feet in the sound and that the water levels rose nearly 10 feet above normal. The water levels were reported to be the highest since 1989. The airport runway which is about 10 feet above the lagoon was nearly inundated with water, and several feet of water poured into areas around numerous homes. Most of the homes are built on pilings which prevented water from entering the structures. There were reports that several small boats were sunk and there was major coastal erosion. Waves crashed over the seawall, but the water level did not rise to the point where the seawall was under water.

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 25, 1:22 AM AKST, 1 hour 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 25, 1:22 AM AKST, 1 hour 8 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
222 AM AKDT SAT AUG 25 2012

.DISCUSSION...

MODELS...IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH 78 HOURS.

ALOFT...526 DAM LOW OVER NORTHWEST ALASKA WILL CONTINUE MOVING
NORTHEAST TO OVER BARROW BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON AS IT WEAKENS TO
535 DAM. 549 DAM LOW SOUTH OF THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL CONTINUE
TO MOVE SOUTHEAST. 589 DAM HIGH OVER THE NORTH PACIFIC WILL PUSH
OVER SOUTHWEST ALASKA THEN FLATTEN OUT AS WESTERLY FLOW DEVELOPS
ACROSS THE STATE.

SURFACE...AT 06Z 984 LOW WAS OVER POINT HOPE AND MOVING NORTHEAST.
LOW WILL BEGIN MOVING NORTH THIS MORNING TO BE 200 NM NORTHWEST OF
WAINWRIGHT THIS AFTERNOON...THEN 400 NM NORTHWEST OF WAINWRIGHT BY
SUNDAY MORNING. A DEVELOPING LOW NEAR THE KAMCHATKA PENINSULA WILL
MOVE TO NUNIVAK ISLAND AROUND MIDNIGHT SATURDAY...THEN TO NEAR
RUBY BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SCATTERED SHOWERS ACROSS THE WEST COAST
AND INTERIOR WILL TAPER OFF THROUGH THE DAY TODAY THEN INCREASE
FROM WEST TO EAST OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. STRONG GRADIENT WINDS OVER
NORTHWEST ALASKA WILL TAPER OFF BY MID AFTERNOON AS THE LOW MOVES
NORTH.

ARCTIC COAST...WINDS OVER THE NORTHWEST COAST WILL TAPER OFF TODAY.
MAINLY OFFSHORE FLOW EAST OF WAINWRIGHT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE
DAY. SCATTERED SHOWERS MAINLY WEST OF BARROW...TAPERING OFF FROM
WEST TO EAST BY AFTERNOON. SCATTERED SHOWERS IN THE BROOKS RANGE
WILL PERSIST IN UPSLOPE FLOW.

WEST COAST...HIGH SURF ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR ZONES 207...211 THIS
MORNING AND INTO THE AFTERNOON FOR ZONE 212. LIGHT RAIN OR SHOWERS
THIS MORNING TAPERING OFF BY AFTERNOON FOR MOST AREAS. SOME
CLEARING THIS AFTERNOON...BUT NEXT SYSTEM WILL MOVE RAPIDLY INTO
THE AREA TONIGHT. NO SIGNIFICANT WINDS EXPECTED NORTH OF BRISTOL
BAY WITH THE NEXT SYSTEM. SOME AREAS MAY SEE UP TO ONE HALF INCH
OF RAIN WITH THIS SYSTEM.

INTERIOR...SCATTERED SHOWERS THIS MORNING WILL TAPER OFF AROUND
NOON...THEN SOME CLEARING. INCREASING CLOUDS TONIGHT WITH RAIN OR
SHOWERS DEVELOPING BEFORE NOON ON SUNDAY FOR MOST OF THE
INTERIOR ZONES AND CONTINUING INTO MONDAY BEFORE TAPERING OFF
MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. UP TO ONE QUARTER INCH OF RAIN CAN
BE EXPECTED WITH THE SYSTEM.

&&

MARINE...HIGH SURF WILL BEGIN SUBSIDING THIS MORNING. EXPECT THAT
THE ADVISORIES WILL BE CANCELLED AROUND NOON TODAY AS WINDS ARE
ALREADY DECREASING AS THE LOW MOVES FURTHER TO THE NORTH AND
WEAKENS.

&&

FIRE WEATHER...SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE TAPERING OFF SO NO WIDESPREAD
WETTING RAINFALL WITH THIS SYSTEM. NEXT SYSTEM LOOKS BETTER FOR
WETTING RAINS ACROSS THE INTERIOR AS MODELS ARE IN BETTER
AGREEMENT.

&&

HYDROLOGY...NO CURRENT ISSUES.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR AKZ207-AKZ211-AKZ212.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-
PKZ230-PKZ235.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ220.
&&

SDB AUG 12

Event by event

1 coastal flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Coastal Flood, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When
August 25, 2:30 AM AKST to 7:00 PM AKST
Where
Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by
NWS Employee

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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, August 2012

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: 394551.