Extremely windy on the lagoon

Observation by Carol Oliver:

Many boats had to be secured & moved this morning. Hoping winds & rain slow down, but in the forecast. This is one of our first concerning rough water storms; high winds and some high water; Love the way everyone gathers to help tie down boats and make sure all's ok. The new dock appears to be damaged, and the men will work on repairing that. Smaller boats are being hauled back to the boat storage site. Boats are being closely watched and repairs will be made when weather permits. The weather is unpredictable, but this storm was pretty accurate. In the 80's it was fair and good for fishermen & subsistence gathering/fishing. Last summer 2021 was a rainy stormy summer!!! Too rough to commercial/subsistence fish and dry them; so hoping the rest of the season is pleasant!!! I had a stormy picture of the seiners, barges somewhere on my phone from last summer!! It was bad, and then to watch all the people that were on the boats, head up to the airport to leave Golovin, fishing fun but also can be dangerous! The air temps feel more like fall, so a lot of cooler air during the evenings. We have a volunteer community garden, which is doing ok; but worry about cool evenings!! So still have hopes for a crop; we hope to do this every year, for food security issues. :) Thanks to Calypso Gardens & Ecological Center in FBKS and of course, to Anahma for getting our community involved!!!

LEO Editor Comment:

Thanks Carol for the observation and the video. This post has been shared with our climate forecast friends at ACCAP, our emergency preparedness team at ANTHC, the Sea Grant marine advisory program agent, the environmental office at Kawerak and the environmental health office at Norton Sound Health Corporation.

Comment by Rick Thoman:

The strong winds and rough seas were produced by a very deep storm for mid-summer. But unlike most strong storms that impact the Golovin area, this was not a storm moving northeastward across the Bering Sea, but was associated with an exceptionally cold pool of air aloft that had moved into the region from north of Chukotka. As a result, the storm center spent three days moving in a counterclockwise manner around the northeast Bering and southern Chukchi Sea areas. As Carol noted, although this was very unusual historically, weather models accurately forecast this scenario well in advance. At the Golovin Airport, the peak wind reported from the FAA automated station was 43 mph during the afternoon of July 18, and for several hours in the late evening winds were sustained near 30 mph.