Weather

Powerful Bering Sea storm expected to sock Western Alaska

A powerful storm packing hurricane-force winds in the Western Bering Sea will slam into Western Alaska Sunday night, bringing white-out conditions and possible coastal flooding to the Kuskokwim Delta area.

The storm, caused by a low pressure front off Shemya, carries 70-knot winds and up to 41-foot seas on the Pacific side of the Western Aleutian islands, according to a National Weather Service forecast.

"Mariners may want to seek safe harbor until conditions improve slowly from southwest to northeast through early this week," the NWS said in a Facebook post.

Such storms are not unusual in the Bering Sea this time of year, said NWS meterologist Dan Peterson, but added, "it is a significant storm."

The storm will also bring "near white-out conditions" to the Kuskokwim Delta coastal region, from Nunivak Island north to the villages of Chevak and Hooper Bay starting late Sunday evening to early Monday morning, according to the NWS. Blizzard conditions should only last a few hours.

A coastal flood advisory for the Kuskokwin Delta area is in effect from Monday at 11 a.m. to noon Tuesday, according to the NWS.

The storm system is also expected to "hammer" areas around Talkeetna, Willow and Cantwell with 14-22 inches of snow, with more snow falling toward Denali National Park.

It will peter out in Southcentral Alaska, bringing strong winds and a chance of snow and rain to the Anchorage area after midnight on Tuesday morning.

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

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