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Unalaska could see winds of up to 100 miles per hour on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.The federal agency has issued a high wind warning for the Eastern Aleutians including Unalaska and Nikolski from 10 a.m to 9 p.m. Saturday with south to southwest winds of 50 to 70 mph. The strongest winds of around 90 mph are expected from noon to 4 p.m., with gusts up to 100 mph possible, as winds move through the mountains.
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Strong winds on the Alaska Peninsula Monday swept volcanic ash from a 1912 eruption across the region, triggering a SIGMET warning from the National Weather Service.
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Two ash eruptions from Shishaldin Volcano disrupted air travel to the Aleutians Tuesday.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.