Nome Alaska had a huge mid-latitude Cyclone hit them Friday!?!?!

[jus_the_facts]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AK_NOME_STORM_AKOL-?SITE=AKFAI&SECTION=HOME

*snip*

Storm shrinks to light rain in Nome

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- The storm that hammered Nome and other Western Alaska communities had tapered off to a light rain by Saturday, officials said.

Winds had calmed although seas were still choppy, according to the National Weather Service, which called off a coastal flood warning by midmorning Saturday.

The storm arrived Thursday night and continued Friday. Winds reaching 65 mph lashed Nome and sent water flooding into Front Street businesses.

Twelve-foot waves on top of a 10-foot storm surge slammed against the town's seawall, littering Front Street with rocks and debris.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.weatherunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html

Jeff Masters WunderBlog

We don't talk much about these states in my tropical blog, but Nome, Alaska had a huge mid-latitude cyclone hit them Friday. The storm brought sustained tropical storm force winds gusting to 52 mph, a 10-foot storm surge, and a pressure of 972 mb! This was in essence a Category 1 hurricane, as far as the storm surge and pressure go. Thanks to wunderphotographer Destiny, who brought this newspaper article to my attention.

:wow:

[Mabus]

1. Check out this website for good global satellites

http://aviationweather.gov/obs/sat/intl/

If you click on the Pacific you can see there's another storm in the western Pacific and if you click on the Atlantic you can see the storms forming over the Atlantic. Pretty fascinating pictures.

[jus_the_facts]

2. Thanks for the link....

:hi:

[stevedeshazer]

3. 972 mb in the Bering Sea? Yikes.

Those who lived in the Pacific Northwest in 1962 will remember (if they're old enough as I am) the Columbus Day Storm, which was equal in force to a Category 3 hurricane. And it came with no warning, as there were no satellite photos available in those days. That storm's lowest pressure was around 960 mb.

Cyclonic action like this as far north as the Bering Sea is very unusual, no question about it. With receding Arctic ice, it may become more and more commonplace.

Damn.

[jus_the_facts]

13. Damn indeed....

...or damned indeed. :(

[suffragette]

4. extreme weather

I wondered if there was additional info so I googled Nome cyclone. The 1st hit was interesting. It wasn't about this cyclone, but about ANOTHER that hit in October 2004.

Here's some of what is written about it:

http://www.iarc.uaf.edu/highlights/coastal_climate/index.php

Water ran through the streets of Nome, AK on October 19, 2004, when a powerful winter storm moved in from the Aleutian Islands. Driven by heavy moisture from a typhoon east of Japan and cold air from Far East Russia, the storm lowered air pressure to 941 millibars (mb), well into hurricane strength, and pounded western Alaska with 50 to 80 mph winds.

~snip~

Several factors can influence the intensity of northern storms, including temperature, sea ice and wind. Recent studies have shown a warming trend in the Arctic and decreasing summertime sea ice cover, leaving open water areas along many coastlines. Sea ice plays a major role in determining the extent of storm impacts on a coastline. Solid ice cover, and even floating ice, dampens wave activity, reducing its intensity. By contrast, in areas of open water, nothing limits the full development of wind-driven waves. The presence of "land-fast" sea-ice, which is sea-ice bonded to the coast, also limits the effects of coastal erosion by directly protecting the coastline from waves. Surface air temperature projections, derived from several climate models of the Arctic, predict that the warming trend will continue (Fig. 3). Such a trend could result in increasing the frequency of extreme weather events and the coastal flooding and erosion associated with these events.

I wonder how many of these non-named "hurricanes" we've been having and how many more are coming.

Of course, these have nothing to do with global warming. :sarcasm:

edited to add link

[jus_the_facts]

14. Extremely interesting info there....

....Alaska's permafrost will be gone soon too..saw a PBS special about it a while back...yes unfortunately global warming is real.

[suffragette]

15. I think I'll bookmark the site

and check back now and then to see how their study is going.
Thanks again for your post since I never would have seen the info with all that's been going on lately.

On a side note, I saw in your post downstream that you're from Louisiana. Hope you and yours are all ok.

[jus_the_facts]

16. Thank You....we're fine...up in Northeast Louisiana....

....got a lot of evacuees in our area...our local chapter of the Red Cross has set up a "community residental center" ironically in the building State Farm used to have Corporate Operations in here but closed up and left after 40 years...it's 315,000sq. feet and plenty big enough to house the thousands who've been relocated because of Katrina and now Rita as well..they're saying FEMA may begin operating a call center there too.

[Toots]

5. sustained tropical storm force winds gusting to 52 mph,

Something is amiss. It can not be sustained winds and gusting winds at the same time. Either they are sustained at 52 knots or gusting to 52 knots but they can not be the same. It does not become a hurricane until winds are sustained at 72 knots so either way sustained or gusting to 52 knots are not hurricane force winds.

[jus_the_facts]

6. it says 62 mph winds in the AP article...maybe a typo on Masters part?

....still he's supposed to be an expert..guess he's been stressed with all that's happened recently and didn't think that post through well enough before posting it? :shrug:

[pitohui]

7. not a cat 1 sorry

there is no "almost" w. hurricanes

cat 1 (or any other cat) is not based on storm surge, it is a definition based on intensity of sustained winds & i'm afraid 52 mph don't make the cut

words do have meaning & it does sound like they had some unpleasant weather but "tropical storm" will do just fine for what you experienced, tropical storms can & do kill, i'll look up a few if you don't believe me, it doesn't have to be called a hurricane to be deadly

by the way, here is a tip from a survivor of these storms -- if you have damage, it is MUCH better if the storm is a "mere" tropical storm rather than a hurricane, why, because the hurricane deductible is higher than the regular's homeowner's insurance which is in place when you have damage from one of these storms

so don't try to get your storm declared a hurricane if it needn't be, you might be sorry

[jus_the_facts]

8. *I* didn't say it was....go explain/complain to Jeff Masters on WunderBlog

....I live in Louisiana BTW not Alaska.

[Darth Lib]

9. Sounds like BS

'Cyclones' are pretty much limited to the Indian Ocean

[jus_the_facts]

10. that's what the linked articles stated.........

....a meteorologist posted that information and a link to the Associated Press article about the storm...I just thought it interesting and linked to the articles in the OP...he's supposed to be an expert...not I.

Welcome to DU.

[lovuian]

11. This may be the start of things to come!!! Pacific coast getting

Hurricanes!!!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. North Pacific storms are Huge! Looky here

The bright white intense storm near the bottom right is Hurricane Kenneth. The huge storm at the top is the one that hit Nome Alaska.