Update 8 a.m. Tuesday: The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the northwestern Brooks Range, in effect until 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The warning, issued early Tuesday for "higher terrain south of the Colville River," anticipates 4 to 8 inches of snow in the area.
Original story:
As weekend flooding concerns in Northwest Alaska ebbed Monday, other areas of the state were facing their own worrying weather conditions — from flooding rivers to gusty winds — in the days ahead.
A small stream flood advisory for Seward-area waterways from the National Weather Service, in place for waterways including the Resurrection River, was extended Monday afternoon until 4 p.m. Tuesday.
According to the advisory, 1 inch of rain has already fallen in the Seward area over Sunday and Monday, with up to 2 inches more expected by noon Tuesday. The downpour was expected to cause minor flooding in the area, including raising the Resurrection River to near or slightly above its action stage of 16 feet.
"Typically the Seward Airport begins to be impacted by flooding at this level," meteorologists wrote. "Water levels on other small streams in the area are currently low, but are expected to rise significantly over the next 24 hours."
Luis Ingram, an Anchorage-based meteorologist, said Monday afternoon that the Resurrection River's action stage indicates the point where water begins to submerge the end of the airport's runway. In June, the river reached 16.6 feet — which proved too high for the airport to keep operating.
"At that level the airport actually had to close, because there was too much water on the runway at that point," Ingram said. "Right now, we're expecting it to rise to near or possibly above (16 feet)."
The Resurrection River was meteorologists' main concern Monday, Ingram said, since many lesser creeks and streams feed it. Some of those waterways also flow into the city, however, and he advised residents to watch for any rising waters.
"Be mindful that this rain that's moving in over the next couple days could also have some rises there as well," Ingram said. "Just be aware, be cautious if you have interest and you live by these small streams and these rivers."
Wind and high surf
Flood watches in place for the western Brooks Range over the weekend had been reduced to flood advisories by Monday, set to end at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday. High surf advisories for St. Lawrence Island and the coast of the Bering Strait, for spray from seas of 9 to 11 feet, were in place until 6 a.m. Tuesday.
In addition, the eastern Alaska Range extending southeast of Fairbanks to the Canadian border was under a high-wind advisory for gusts of up to 50 mph until 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Jim Brader, a Fairbanks-based meteorologist, said Monday afternoon that the Brooks Range, Bering Strait and Alaska Range advisories were all being driven by low-pressure systems formed by the remnants of last week's weather system from Siberia.
Brader said sustained winds from the southwest across the Bering Strait were driving both higher seas and shifting water along the coastlines covered in the high-surf advisory, with gusts as high as 50 mph reported at Tin City, an Air Force radar site on Cape Wales.
"For this time of year, that's pretty strong winds," Brader said. "Those strong winds are basically going south from Point Hope through the Bering Strait to St. Lawrence Island."
Along the Alaska Range, site of the high-wind advisories, Brader said Delta Junction had already seen gusts of 45 mph. Antler Creek, between Healy and Denali, has also seen some of the highest wind speeds so far.
"Over at Antler Creek we've been seeing gusts to 50 mph," Brader said. "It's one of those blowholes."