High winds and big waves were expected this weekend in parts of Western Alaska, a series of bad-weather events that are products of a low-pressure system moving in from the west and a high-pressure ridge extending down from the North Pole, the National Weather Service said.
The service on Saturday issued several storm warnings — for the Chukchi Sea coast and the lower Kobuk and Noatak valleys in northwestern Alaska, St. Lawrence Island and the Bering Sea coast and the central Aleutian Islands.
The highest winds, up to hurricane force, are expected in the central Aleutians, the service said. Winds gusts in the region could be as high as 85 miles an hour through Sunday, the weather service said. In Unalaska, sustained winds of 40 to 50 miles an hour and gusts up to 65 miles an hour were expected through the weekend.
Farther north, storm surges of 3 feet to 6 feet are expected on St. Lawrence Island and parts of northwestern Alaska, the weather service said.
High seas were expected through Sunday from the Bering Sea north of Attu to the Chukchi Sea, the forecast said. In some areas, rough and windy conditions are expected to last through early next week.
Elsewhere, much of Interior Alaska was under a freezing-rain advisory Saturday that was in effect in some areas through Sunday.
Slippery road conditions created by ice and freezing rain were cited as a factor in a fatal auto crash in Fairbanks on Saturday. Michael Dick, 33, of Fairbanks died at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital after being injured in that crash, a head-on collision on Chena Hot Springs Road, Alaska State Troopers said.
Dick had been driving a pickup that was struck by a sport-utility vehicle that crossed the road's center line, the troopers said.