Kotzebue experienced one blizzard after another in March, and now with so much piled up and drifted snow, the community is struggling to dig out.
It has been some years since we have had a long storm. March 6 marks the 3rd day and there have been no jets or small planes flying.
The heavy rains and high water from storm Murdok today and Monday are contributing to the erosion of the old landfill and river bank.
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.
Unusual high water all summer in Noatak, causing massive erosion towards the airport and old buried landfill, exposing old trash into the river.
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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