Strong winds cause coastal flooding and road closures in Utqiagvik, Alaska
As an anomalously-deep low pressure system was moving eastward from the Chukchi Sea to the Beaufort Sea off the northern coast of Alaska (surface analyses), strong southwesterly to westerly surface winds caused inland flooding that led to some road closures in the Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) area on 12-13 September 2026. 10-minute Full Disk scan GOES-18 (GOES-West) Water Vapor images centered on Barrow Post-Rogers Airport (above) showed the cloud features (brighter shades of white) associated with the low pressure system, and dryer air (darker shades of blue) behind its cold front — and included plots of hourly surface wind barbs and wind gusts.
A listing of Barrow Post-Rogers Airport (PABR) surface observations (below) showed that peak wind gusts were 50-51 knots for 3 consecutive hours (0553-0753 UTC on 13 September).
10-minute GOES-18 Infrared Window images (below) included plots of surface wind barbs and peak wind gusts. (The peak gust of 51 knots at PABR occurred at 0701 UTC)
A toggle between VIIRS Infrared Window images from Suomi-NPP and NOAA-21 (below) provided a more detailed view of the clouds associated with the offshore low pressure system.
A Public Service Announcement issued by Alaska’s North Slope Borough (below) detailed the flooding-related road closures in Utqiagvik.
