High wind warning calls for 65 mph gusts on Yukon Delta Coast until early Saturday

Southeast winds gusting up to 65 mph are forecast on the Yukon Delta Coast until 4 am Saturday, the National Weather Service in Fairbanks said Friday. The office updated its high wind warning to end 12 hours earlier than the previous forecast, which ran until 4 pm Saturday. Sustained winds are expected at 30 to 40 mph.

Forecasters say the wind could move loose debris, damage property and cause power outages. Travel could be difficult. The office urges people to secure loose objects that could be blown around or damaged.

A rain and snow mix was expected on the coast Thursday night into early Friday. Blowing snow may reduce visibility Friday morning and afternoon before the snow changes completely to rain later in the day.

The Yukon Delta Coast is also under a coastal flood warning until 10 pm Friday, followed by a high surf advisory until 4 pm Saturday. The weather service's Thursday Northern Alaska forecast discussion said Hooper Bay was expected to be cut off from its airstrip by rising water Friday.

A second high wind warning covers the Lower Yukon River until 4 am Saturday, with south winds of 30 to 40 mph and gusts up to 60 mph. Peak gusts on the river are expected between 4 pm and midnight Friday. A brief period of wet snow is expected to turn quickly to rain.

A wind advisory covers the Lower Koyukuk, Middle Yukon, and Lower Yukon and Innoko valleys until 4 pm Saturday, with south winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts up to 50 mph. Peak gusts there are expected between 4 pm Friday and 4 am Saturday.

Alaska News previously covered a Bering Sea storm that brought flooding and high winds to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in mid-September. The warning that week named Hooper Bay and Chevak. The zone forecast for the coast calls for rain through the weekend.