Much of the Alaska Bering Sea coast north of Nunivak Island saw the lowest ocean waters in memory on October 12, or in some places early on the 13th.
Folks have shared striking photographs of boats grounded in Nome Harbor, old wrecks offshore appearing above the water line, and beaches extending far beyond the usual limit.
This very low ocean level followed several days of persistent and strong north to northeast winds. But those kinds of winds aren't especially uncommon, so what was different this time?
The big factors were, first of all, there was no sea ice yet, and so the wind was blowing directly on the water's surface. But the most significant factor was that the strong north winds were not limited to our area, but were blowing from the north, from the Bering Strait, all the way to Unalaska.
The wind, in effect, acted as a non stop plow with no obstacles to slow down the push of water. Of course, as the winds diminished, water levels returned to closer to normal, although at Nome that took a couple of days to be complete.
