Utqiaġvik logs record September rainfall as storm drives surf along Arctic coast

A storm pushing southwest winds along Alaska's northern coast brought high surf and dangerous gusts to communities on the Western and Northwest Arctic Coast. The National Weather Service warned of possible property damage, power outages and difficult travel. The high wind warning ran until 4 p.m. AKDT Friday. The high surf advisory runs until 4 a.m. Saturday.

The National Weather Service office in Fairbanks issued the high wind warning for the Western Arctic Coast and urged people to secure loose objects that could be blown around or damaged. The same office issued a high surf advisory covering the Western Arctic Coast and the Northwest Arctic Coast, warning of water levels 3 to 5 feet above the normal high tide line, peaking at each high tide, with localized beach erosion possible. A separate advisory for the Southern Seward Peninsula Coast forecast water levels 3 to 4 feet above normal at Nome and 3 to 5 feet at Golovin, with gusts of 40 to 50 mph and possible localized beach erosion.

Southwest winds picked up Wednesday night into Thursday and were forecast to hold strong through Friday before gradually weakening Friday night into Saturday. Gusts of 50 to 65 mph were expected at the peak Thursday and Friday, with the strongest winds forecast near the Lisburne Peninsula.

The same storm system produced record rainfall in Utqiaġvik. The community recorded 0.80 inches of rain, equal to 20.3 millimeters, in the 24 hours ending at 10 a.m. AKDT Friday. That is the highest September 24-hour total in the community's climate record, breaking the previous September mark of 0.75 inches set in 2021. Climate observations at the site date to 1920.

The measurement comes from the Barrow Post-Rogers station, Utqiaġvik's official reporting site. Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, flagged the new mark Friday, citing the station's 24-hour observation table. Rain fell from Thursday afternoon through Friday morning.