JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Residents on Alaska’s huge and sparsely populated western coast braced Friday for a robust storm that forecasters mentioned may very well be one of many worst in current historical past, threatening hurricane-force winds and excessive surf that might knock out energy and trigger flooding.
The storm is the remnants of what was Hurricane Merbok, which College of Alaska Fairbanks local weather specialist Rick Thoman mentioned can also be influencing climate patterns removed from Alaska — a uncommon late-summer storm now could be anticipated to deliver rain this weekend to drought-stricken components of California.
“All this heat air that’s been introduced north by this ex-typhoon is mainly inducing a sequence response within the jet stream downstream from Alaska,” he mentioned.
“It’s a historic-level storm,” Thoman mentioned of the system steaming towards Alaska. “In 10 years, individuals shall be referring to the September 2022 storm as a benchmark storm.”
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Hurricane-force winds had been forecast in components of the Bering Sea, whereas within the small communities of Elim and Koyuk, round 90 miles (145 kilometers) from the hub neighborhood of Nome, water ranges may very well be as much as 18 toes (5 meters) above the conventional excessive tide line, based on the Nationwide Climate Service. Flood warnings had been in impact till Monday in components of northwest Alaska.
In Nome, which has about 3,500 residents, Leon Boardway was working as standard Friday on the Nome Guests Middle, a half-block from the Bering Sea. “I simply wish to preserve my door open and the espresso pot on,” he mentioned after it had begun to rain and the winds picked up.
However few individuals had been coming by. Residents, guests and companies within the city, well-known for being on the finish of the Iditarod Path Sled Canine Race and the setting for the dredging-for-gold actuality present “Bering Sea Gold,” had been boarding up home windows and in any other case bracing for the storm.
“The ocean is getting worse on the market,” mentioned Boardway, 71, as he checked out the middle’s webcam, which from its excessive perch has view of the swells.
“I hope everyone stays calm and everyone simply will get in , protected place,” he mentioned.
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Hurricane Merbok fashioned farther east within the Pacific Ocean than the place such storms usually seem. Water temperatures are unusually heat this yr so the storm “was capable of spin up,” Thoman mentioned.
In the meantime, a low-pressure system was anticipated to drop from the Gulf of Alaska and park off the coast of Northern California, producing gusty ridgetop winds earlier than rains set in late Saturday, the Nationwide Climate Service mentioned.
Within the Sierra Nevada foothills northeast of the state capital of Sacramento, fireplace crews have been preventing what has grow to be the most important wildfire in that state to this point this yr. Whereas rain is required, the storm was predicted to additionally deliver winds that might unfold the Mosquito Hearth.
The storm will sluggish however not finish California’s fireplace season as a result of fuels are critically dry and a interval of hotter, drier climate will observe, mentioned Courtney Carpenter, a Nationwide Climate Service meteorologist.
Forecasters mentioned the climate system will unfold rain down the state’s central coast however little if any is anticipated in most of Southern California, the place mountain and desert communities are coping with the aftermath of an excessive amount of rain.
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Crews had been clearing head-high mud flows within the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, following flash-flooding Monday. Downpours from remnants of a Pacific hurricane precipitated the devastation in Southern California, with winds topping 100 mph (160 kph) final weekend.
First responders on Thursday discovered the physique of a girl lacking for the reason that mudslides tore by means of her mountain city. Her stays had been found buried beneath mud, rocks and different particles close to her house.
The deluges added to street and infrastructure injury in desert nationwide parks from the summer time’s punishing monsoonal thunderstorms.
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Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska. Antczak reported from Los Angeles.
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska’s first “flyball” league held its annual “Great Alaska Barkout Flyball Tournament” on Saturday in midtown at Alyeska Canine Trainers.
Flyball is a fast-paced sport in which relay teams of four dogs and their handlers compete to cross the finish line first while carrying a tennis ball launched from a spring loaded box. Saturday’s tournament was one of several throughout the year held by “Dogs Gone Wild,” which started in 2004 as Alaska’s first flyball league.
“We have here in Alaska, we’ve got, I think it’s about 6 tournaments per year,” said competitor and handler Maija Doggett. “So you know every other month or so there will be a tournament hosted. Most of them are hosted right here at Alyeska Canine Trainers.”
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Last week, Superior Court Judge Andrew Guidi indicated he will rule that Alaska does not have authority to permit access across its lands to facilitate oil and gas development on the North Slope.
The Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources plans to fight and appeal any final adverse ruling that undermines the state’s constitutional interests in resource development.
The Department of Natural Resources has issued a permit allowing Oil Search Alaska (OSA) to cross the Kuparuk River Unit, operated by Conoco Phillips Alaska, to develop the Pikka Unit. As described in the State’s brief to the court, “the denial of such access implicates the delay of development of millions of barrels of oil and billions of dollars of public revenues.”
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“The State of Alaska has a constitutional obligation to maximize the development of our resources,” DNR Commissioner John Boyle said on Nov. 22. “We have to confirm with the Supreme Court that we have the authority to permit access for all developers to ensure we can meet this obligation.”
Once the Superior Court issues the final judgement, Alaska will be able to file its appeal. This is expected to occur in the coming weeks.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – For Juneau resident Tamara Roberts, taking photos of the northern lights was just a hobby — that is until a different light altogether caught her eye.
Capturing what she’s called strange lights in the skies of Juneau near her home on Thunder Mountain, Roberts said she’s taken 30 to 40 different videos and photos of the lights since September 2021.
“Anytime I’m out, I’m pretty sure that I see something at least a couple times a week,” Roberts said. “I’m definitely not the only one that’s seeing them. And if people just pay more attention, they’ll notice that those aren’t stars and those aren’t satellites.”
Roberts has been a professional photographer for over 20 years. She said she changed interests from photographing people to wildlife and landscape when she moved to Juneau 13 years ago.
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Once she started making late-night runs trying to capture the northern lights, she said that’s when she started encountering her phenomenon.
Roberts said not every encounter takes place above Thunder Mountain: her most recent sighting happened near the Mendenhall Glacier while her stepmom was visiting from Arizona.
“She’d never been here before, so we got up and we drove up there, and lo and behold, there it was,” Roberts said. “I have some family that absolutely thinks it’s what it is, and I have some family that just doesn’t care.”
Roberts described another recent encounter near the glacier she said was a little too close for comfort. While driving up alone in search of the northern lights, she expected to see other fellow photographers out for the same reason as she normally does.
But this night was different.
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“I’ve gone up there a million times by myself, and this night, particularly, it was clear, it was cold and the [aurora] KP index was high … so as I’m driving up and there’s nobody there. And I was like, Okay, I’ll just wait and somebody will show up.’ So I backed up into the parking spot underneath the street light — the only light that’s really there on that side of the parking lot — and I turned all my lights off, left my car running, looked around, and there was that light right there, next to the mountain.”
Roberts said after roughly 10 minutes of filming the glowing light, still not seeing anyone else around, she started to get a strange feeling that maybe she should leave.
“I just got this terrible gut feeling,” Roberts said. “I started to pull out of my parking spot and my car sputtered. [It] scared me so bad that I just gunned the accelerator, but my headlights … started like flashing and getting all crazy.
“I had no headlights, none all the way home, no headlights.”
According to the Juneau Police Department, there haven’t been any reports of strange lights in the sky since Sept. 14, when police say a man was reportedly “yelling about UFOs in the downtown area.”
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Responding officers said they did not locate anything unusual, and no arrests were made following the man’s report.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service in Juneau also said within the last seven days, no reports of unusual activity in the skies had been reported. The Federal Aviation Administration in Juneau did not respond.
With more and more whistleblowers coming forward in Congressional hearings, Roberts said she thinks it’s only a matter of time before the truth is out there.
“Everybody stayed so quiet all these years for the fear of being mocked,” Roberts said. “Now that people are starting to come out, I think that people should just let the reality be what it is, and let the evidence speak for itself, because they’re here, and that’s all there is to it.”
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