Heat advisory warns of 80 degrees near Umiat Sunday afternoon

Temperatures near Umiat are forecast to reach as high as 80 degrees this afternoon and evening. The heat advisory covers the Western Arctic Plains and the Central Arctic Plains and runs from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. AKDT today.

No North Slope village lies inside either zone. Utqiagvik, Nuiqsut, Anaktuvuk Pass and the borough's other communities all sit in adjacent forecast zones the advisory does not cover, as does Prudhoe Bay. The nearest populated place the weather service records to Umiat is Nuiqsut, about 62 miles away. Two Dalton Highway waypoints, Sagwon and Happy Valley, do fall inside the Central Arctic Plains zone.

The National Weather Service Fairbanks issued the advisory. "Individuals not accustomed to these unusually hot temperatures for this region may experience heat related illnesses," it says. Its instruction is to "drink plenty of fluids and check up on elderly and vulnerable relatives and neighbors."

It is the third time this month the office has warned of 80-degree heat in the same zone near Umiat, following advisories on Aug. 6 and Aug. 13 that forecast identical highs.

Umiat sits on the Colville River about 120 miles southwest of Prudhoe Bay, inside the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. July averages there run in the low 50s. The heat is expected to break after today. "Temperatures cool Monday and are not expected to warm to these levels again for the rest of the week," the advisory says.