Unalakleet

The City of Unalakleet now has a working generator to power its local water plant, but the community plans to be on a boil water notice for an extended period of time.

Unalakleet’s supply of water was running on empty following a nasty freeze-up at the end of December. Freezing rain led to a frozen pool of standing water that shifted the community’s pump house before the New Year. This dropped the flow of water into the water tank and levels were down to two feet earlier the first week of January.

Yesterday, damaging high wind in Unalakleet sent debris flying into high voltage power lines, knocking out electricity for half of the village. After roughly nine hours, electricity was restored to…

Open water over the ocean creates conditions that lead to hoar frost and rime ice. These conditions impact travel and are expected to become more common as ice forms later in Norton Sound.

Thunderstorms are unusual in Unalakleet; however, a thunderstorm cell persisted in the area for longer than usual. Hot, dry conditions across Alaska have increased the risk of wildland fire, including that started from lightening strike.

It was also during the week where a number of dead fish started to occur along the riverine segment.

Usually, in March, the Bering Sea ice is reaching its thickest extent. But from the beach in Unalakleet, the full horizon is blue ocean water, punctuated infrequently by lone icebergs.

Birds have been reported dead or behaving strangely in communities throughout the Bering Strait region, from Shishmaref to Unalakleet and on St. Lawrence Island.

While taking photos this afternoon of the snow ice on various objects near the Native Village of Unalakleet, which was on the approximate order of 4 minutes and with very little wind (playground, grass, powerlines), my hands were cold due to the "wetness" in the air and the ambient air temperature.

Using a hand-held Garmin Montana 650t unit, I took photos of the tideline in three areas.

A haze surrounding the hills had a distinct smell of burned wood.

Observed fast moving weather system... as quickly as it came it abated.

Thawing permafrost is warping water and sewer lines. Along the coast and rivers, erosion is threatening the lakes that communities use for drinking water or the lagoons where they dump sewage.

Unusually wet winter weather activity observed. Traveling in early February (AFE) disrupted travel due to weather conditions.

An unusual morning haze "winter fog", was observed, attributed to a layer of moist air trapped near the ground.

Three healthy snowfalls with progessively more snow each time.

Commercial and Subsistence Harvest

Unusual weather pattern that changes conditions quickly.

Allergy season happening sooner