Above normal temperatures in the month of November followed by a series of storms makes varying ice conditions.
Water floods the Kotzebue lagoon. Grasses can be seen in July and a month later in August the water has risen 4-6 ft.
"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."
An ice jam caused by warming spring temperatures near the village of Buckland has left most of the town underwater and cut off access to the airport road. Residents of the village of about 400 people are preparing to evacuate by boat if water levels continue to rise.
High water posed safety hazards and resulted in the removal of boardwalk but also allowed boats to go further up river than usual.
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.
Warm water temperatures may be causing stress and increase the risk of infections and other illness in fish.
A strong storm impacting NW Alaska with high winds and sea level rise (over 6 ft) caused localized flooding in Kotzebue.
A normal daily river level here is about 46', so we are nearly eight (8') feet above normal.
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