Above normal temperatures in the month of November followed by a series of storms makes varying ice conditions.
Heavy rains have elevated river levels throughout August and September. High water continues to erode the river bank in the community. The photos show a tree that was 22 feet from the edge is know 3 feet. Total erosion has reached 91 ft. by old landfill and new mark shows 112 ft. marker.
Water floods the Kotzebue lagoon. Grasses can be seen in July and a month later in August the water has risen 4-6 ft.
As the river changes and erosion happens along the banks, new channels are being formed around the community.
There has been alot of heavy weather hitting western Alaska this summer. Here are photos from recent storm surge in Kotzebue.
"The event occurred on June 29th, on our native allotment near Kotzebue (Illivak). We left home in the morning and when we came back around 8:00 PM in the evening the whole lake had drained! It looked like it was blown up with dynamite."
"This year we had a lot more rain than other years, we used to be able to get on our ATVs and travel 10-12 miles upriver. I haven't seen or heard of anyone using ATVs to travel upriver this year. I think the breakthrough channel has a lot to do with us not being able to travel on ATVs. I see a lot of my favorite ATV fishing spots washed away from the highwater."
Community Water System at Risk: Extreme precipitation throughout the summer and sustained high water has resulted in erosion of the location for the water transmission line and Noatak's two water wells.
The record was driven in part by a heavy rainstorm that set Kotzebue's single-day precipitation record.
Photos show some of the erosion caused by surge of high water in late June on the Noatak River. As of June 29th, 24 feet of bank have been lost adjacent to the Noatak Airport, and 28 feet adjacent to the landfill.
The flooding was caused by a weather system that moved up to the Bering Sea from the tropics, and raised water levels and dumped rain across much of western Alaska.
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