Water could rise again along the Eastern Norton Sound coast Saturday morning

The National Weather Service in Fairbanks expects water along the Eastern Norton Sound coast to rise again during Saturday morning's high tide. A high surf advisory runs until 11 am Saturday, Sept. 5. Water could still run 2 to 4 feet above the normal high tide line, highest from Golovin to Elim and lower to the west toward Nome.

The advisory covers the Southern Seward Peninsula Coast and the Eastern Norton Sound coast from Golovin to Stebbins. Forecasters issued it Friday afternoon, after water peaked early that morning at just over 4 feet above the normal high tide line near Golovin. Beach erosion is possible in spots. Normal tides are expected to return afterward.

Golovin sits on a spit between Golovnin Lagoon and Golovnin Bay and floods repeatedly, a 2012 state report found. During ex-typhoon Merbok in 2022, flooding exceeded the previous record set in 1913. Golovin has completed a plan calling for relocating infrastructure to higher ground.