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.
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.
"Our temperatures reached 83 degrees, and seem to be getting hotter! We think that maybe the warm water has something to do with the humpy die-off?"
A strong storm impacting NW Alaska with high winds and sea level rise (over 6 ft) caused localized flooding in Kotzebue.
For one day last week, the village of Deering needed to use a boat to get to the airport.
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