Wainwright's fuel tank ran dry and the airlift is weathered in

Wainwright's fuel day tank ran dry at 11 am Monday, according to the village corporation's operations manager, and an emergency airlift of 80 fuel drums from Anchorage is grounded by weather.

Olgoonik Corporation, the village corporation for Wainwright, posted an operations update Monday saying the day tank is "completely empty" and that emergency fuel transport logistics are underway. Lynden Air Cargo is coordinating the airlift, according to the post, with cargo being loaded onto aircraft in Anchorage and flights on standby waiting for a safe weather window. Local operators are working with North Slope Borough leadership, the corporation said.

Eighty drums is roughly 4,400 gallons. The corporation did not say how long that would last, or when the next resupply is expected.

Wainwright sits on the Chukchi Sea coast about 90 miles southwest of Utqiagvik, reachable only by air or sea. The village of about 550 people depends on annual barge deliveries for its bulk fuel supply.

The Chukchi and Beaufort seas have carried heavy ice this summer. Alaska News reported this month that sea ice off the north coast hit its heaviest end-of-July level in more than two decades, keeping Arctic shipping routes blocked. Satellite data showed the Chukchi at its highest extent since 1994 and the Beaufort at its highest since 2006, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The operations update did not say what caused the shortage.

The North Slope Borough had not posted a public announcement about Wainwright as of Monday evening. It declared an emergency for a fuel shortage in Anaktuvuk Pass in January.