A strong Bering Sea storm prompted power outages and canceled flights across Western Alaska on Friday. Wind gusts above 40 mph were reported off the coast, along with snow around the Seward Peninsula.
Those conditions are expected to persist into Friday evening, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Alekya Srinivasan.
“We are likely to see gusts weakening into the 40 mile an hour range and even 30s by tonight,” Srinivasan said. “Overnight into tomorrow, they're kind of expected to stay — you could see gusts up to 30-35.”
A blizzard warning is in effect for the Seward Peninsula and most of the Northwest Arctic Borough until 4 a.m. Saturday, and Noatak and upper Kobuk River communities will be under a winter storm warning through 4 p.m. Sunday. The National Weather Service the De Long Mountains to get the most snow, with up to 7 inches Friday night.
The Weather Service says travel throughout the region will be dangerous to impossible through the weekend and recommends traveling only in an emergency and with survival gear.
Disruptions across the region on Friday
The storm caused disruptions in Northwest Alaska communities throughout the day on Friday.
In Kivalina, residents evacuated to the village school, about 7 miles away, due to intermittent power outages. And In Nome, a problem with the utility company’s main generators knocked out power across the city for nearly three hours on Friday. Operators switched to the city’s old powerplant and restored power in the early afternoon.
All flights have been canceled in Kotzebue and Nome. The Northwest Arctic Borough, the City of Kotzebue and several businesses have closed early because of the storm.
The power outage in Nome temporarily took National Weather Service instruments offline. Srinivasan says that left forecasters using non-traditional methods to track the storm.
“We've been keeping track of what's going on through the Nome Post Facebook, just because for a bit there we didn't have any data coming in from Nome,” she said.
Srinivasan says a second, weaker storm system will move into the region on Sunday and keep the precipitation coming. Temperatures are expected to stay above freezing across the region, which means snow is less likely for the second round.