NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

The National Weather Service is reshaping its coastal waters across Alaska, adding new zones and more accurate forecasting.“We decided to go ahead and pare down our marine zones,” said Aviva Braun, warning coordination meteorologist for the Anchorage weather service office. “So what is currently the coastal water forecast, which goes from shoreline up to 100 nautical miles, is now going from shoreline to 15 nautical miles, and then 15 nautical miles and out. So they’ll be split into two zones, essentially.”

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage said a fairly strong low pressure system is traversing the Aleutians from West to East. Cold air, mixed with subtropical moisture, is leading to heavy snow and high winds.

A typical December on the island brings about six inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service, but Unalaska has already received more than 10 inches this month. If the Aleutian community didn’t receive another drop of rain for the rest of the month, this would still be the ninth rainiest December on record.

Excessive rain in Unalaska has led to a flood warning, and the city has closed several roads and public buildings. The National Weather Service said Tuesday between 3 to 3.5 inches of rain had already fallen in the last 24 hours and that up to 5.5 inches were possible. The one-day total precipitation — 3.76 inches as of 10 a.m. Tuesday — ranks in the top-10 highest on record.

A mid-September storm caused major damage in parts of Western Alaska. In Unalaska though, it brought strangely warm temperatures and a warning sign about future storm activity in the region. Wreckage from the historic storm spans about 1,000 miles of coastline from the Lower Kuskokwim area, up north to the Norton Sound region. Flooding and strong winds caused power outages, road and home damage and destroyed subsistence harvests and the means to replace those. While Unalaska was preparing for similar conditions and possible devastation, locals got lucky as the storm passed further west, near Shemya Island. Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said the high seas and strong winds were the remnants of Typhoon Merbok. And while they missed the Eastern Aleutians, they did push subtropical air into the region.

Remnant of Typhoon Merbok has crossed into the Bering Sea bringing high winds to the western Aleutians, and high temperatures to Unalaska. KUCB's Vic Fisher talked to Kaitlyn O'Brien, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, about the storm.

Unalaska has set a new record for the warmest Christmas in Alaska.Temperatures in the island community soared to 56 degrees on Saturday. That broke the prior Christmas Day record of 55 degrees set in the Southeast Alaska community of Metlakatla in 2009, according to climatologist Rick Thoman, who works for the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Hurricane-level winds slammed the Aleutian Islands Thursday night, ripping off roofs and tearing boats from their docks.In Unalaska, the region’s largest city, the National Weather Service recorded wind gusts of up to 132 mph.

Updated 7/29/2021 at 1:10 a.m.The Department of Public Safety says Unalaskans are safe to return home after a tsunami warning Wednesday night caused…

Scientists have upgraded the alert level at one of Alaska's most active volcanoes after increased volcanic unrest.Starting last week, satellites detected…