Alaska Peninsula

A fire destroyed most of the remaining buildings in the abandoned village of Belkofski, on the Alaska Peninsula, village officials said Tuesday. Makrina Mack, the Vice President of Belkofski Corp., says the corporation became aware that a fire had happened in the village on Saturday, April 27. Belkofski's last permanent residents left the village in 1982, Mack said. Mack said all the remaining buildings except the school had been destroyed by the fire. The corporation has been able to fly over the village to assess the damage, but has not been able to get to the village, accessible only by boat, to do a ground assessment or determine how the fire started.

by The Associated Press Sunday, June 13, 2010 FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The Alaska Earthquake Information Center reports a magnitude 5.0 earthquake in the Alaska Peninsula region. The moderate quake was felt in Dillingham but there were no reports of damage. The quake was recorded at 5:43 a.m. Sunday and was centered about 85 miles southeast of Dillingham at a depth of about 6 miles. The earthquake center is a cooperative program of the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska and the U.S. Geological Survey.

by The Associated Press Saturday, May 29, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says a pair of moderate earthquakes Friday shook an area south of the Aleutian Islands. A magnitude 5.3 quake 12 miles below the surface rattled the Unimak Island region at 2:07 a.m. Two minutes later, a magnitude 5.0 aftershock hit the region again. The aftershock was centered 24 miles underground. The information center says there were no reports of the earthquake being felt or causing damage.

by Dan Joling The Associated Press Tuesday, March 2, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will conduct scoping meetings on a proposed land exchange that could lead to a road through Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. A road through the refuge has been a priority for the community of King Cove, which wants land access to an all-weather jet port at Cold Bay. A road through the refuge is bitterly opposed by environmental groups. Congress last year ordered an environmental review of the land exchange.

Alaska State Troopers and the U.S. Coast Guard spent Saturday searching for a Perryville man who fell off a fishing vessel near Chignik Lagoon early Friday morning. According to crew of the Antoinette Renee, 43-year-old Moses Kosbruk Jr. was last seen aboard at about 3 a.m. Friday. He was reported to troopers as missing at about 5 p.m. A Coast Guard helicopter was sent Friday evening to search the water near Chignik Lagoon, a community of about 100 people on the Alaska Peninsula.

We wouldn't know it by looking outside in Anchorage, with cool crisp sunshine yesterday, but some parts of the state continue to experience unusual winter-like weather.  Southwest is once again starting off the day with light snow.  Light snow and flurries and very cold temperatures are gripping the Slope and Northwest Alaska, including Kotzebue and Nome. Glenallen and the rest of the Copper River Basin have had periods of snow this morning. Snow has extended to the Eagle and the Canadian border.

Much of Southcentral enjoyed sunshine over the last couple days.  Our sunny run has come to an end, however, as a low pressure system gathers strength south of the Alaska Peninsula and slowly moves north.  This low will reach peak intensity this afternoon, then stall out and gradually weaken through the weekend.  Rain will be moderate at times in Kodiak and, later today, PWS.  Otherwise, rain totals should remain fairly light.  A separate disturbance...

A strong low pressure system will slowly pull into Bristol Bay today.  Unlike the last couple of lows, this one is interacting with a jet streak, a localized area of strong winds along the jet stream.  These strong winds aloft will combine with strong surface winds to transport abundant moisture out of the North Pacific into the state.  This moist, warm southeasterly flow will cause inclement weather today before moving east into the Panhandle tomorrow....

Calm weather has returned to mainland Alaska, thanks to a high pressure ridge building in from the Southwest.  Lingering snow showers will bring light accumulations to the eastern half of the state before clearing late.  The Panhandle will continue with scattered snow and rain showers with a couple inches near Juneau today.  Southcentral will see decreasing low clouds and fog from southwest to northeast throughout the day with all precipitation tapering...

Southeasterly flow over the Gulf of Alaska around an area of low pressure will keep clouds and showers around today for the SE Panhandle, PWS, the eastern Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak, and the Alaska Peninsula.  The low is centered south of Kodiak Island.  Areas south and east of mountain ranges (within upsloped regions) will pick up the lions share of the moisture.  This includes Ketchikan, Cordova, Seward, and Whittier. Areas west of the mountains (downsloped regions) are in for mostly to partly cloudy skies and mainly dry conditions.  This includes Anchorage, Wasilla, Palmer, Kenai and Soldotna.

A fire destroyed most of the remaining buildings in the abandoned village of Belkofski, on the Alaska Peninsula, village officials said Tuesday. Makrina Mack, the Vice President of Belkofski Corp., says the corporation became aware that a fire had happened in the village on Saturday, April 27. Belkofski's last permanent residents left the village in 1982, Mack said. Mack said all the remaining buildings except the school had been destroyed by the fire. The corporation has been able to fly over the village to assess the damage, but has not been able to get to the village, accessible only by boat, to do a ground assessment or determine how the fire started.

This has been a gloomy week for most the Alaska.  Fortunately, warmer temperatures and sunshine is re-emerging for parts of the state.  Places like Fairbanks, McGrath, Bethel and Denali Park will see a fair dose of sun and temps in the 60s to near 70. Not everyone is done with the wet weather, however. From the northern Panhandle into PWS. rain is likely with 24 hour totals surpassing one inch.  Breezy to windy conditions, particularly through channeled terrain, will accompany the rain.  Scattered showers will persist another day Bristol Bay and the Alaska Peninsula, also.

We wouldn't know it by looking outside in Anchorage, with cool crisp sunshine yesterday, but some parts of the state continue to experience unusual winter-like weather.  Southwest is once again starting off the day with light snow.  Light snow and flurries and very cold temperatures are gripping the Slope and Northwest Alaska, including Kotzebue and Nome. Glenallen and the rest of the Copper River Basin have had periods of snow this morning. Snow has extended to the Eagle and the Canadian border.

Southeasterly flow over the Gulf of Alaska around an area of low pressure will keep clouds and showers around today for the SE Panhandle, PWS, the eastern Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak, and the Alaska Peninsula.  The low is centered south of Kodiak Island.  Areas south and east of mountain ranges (within upsloped regions) will pick up the lions share of the moisture.  This includes Ketchikan, Cordova, Seward, and Whittier. Areas west of the mountains (downsloped regions) are in for mostly to partly cloudy skies and mainly dry conditions.  This includes Anchorage, Wasilla, Palmer, Kenai and Soldotna.

Comfortable temperatures are spread over a good chunk of Alaska this morning.  30s and 40s have already been observed in Southeast.  20s and 30s are found around Anchorage and the rest of the Southcentral region.  Even Southwest Alaska is getting in on the warm up---it's been as warm as the mid 30s this morning. By this evening, 30s will be widespread, from Southwest to Southcentral and northward into the Interior.  Temps in the 40s to near 50 are expected for parts of Southcentral into the Panhandle.

Calm weather has returned to mainland Alaska, thanks to a high pressure ridge building in from the Southwest.  Lingering snow showers will bring light accumulations to the eastern half of the state before clearing late.  The Panhandle will continue with scattered snow and rain showers with a couple inches near Juneau today.  Southcentral will see decreasing low clouds and fog from southwest to northeast throughout the day with all precipitation tapering...

A strong low pressure system will slowly pull into Bristol Bay today.  Unlike the last couple of lows, this one is interacting with a jet streak, a localized area of strong winds along the jet stream.  These strong winds aloft will combine with strong surface winds to transport abundant moisture out of the North Pacific into the state.  This moist, warm southeasterly flow will cause inclement weather today before moving east into the Panhandle tomorrow....

Much of Southcentral enjoyed sunshine over the last couple days.  Our sunny run has come to an end, however, as a low pressure system gathers strength south of the Alaska Peninsula and slowly moves north.  This low will reach peak intensity this afternoon, then stall out and gradually weaken through the weekend.  Rain will be moderate at times in Kodiak and, later today, PWS.  Otherwise, rain totals should remain fairly light.  A separate disturbance...

Alaska State Troopers and the U.S. Coast Guard spent Saturday searching for a Perryville man who fell off a fishing vessel near Chignik Lagoon early Friday morning. According to crew of the Antoinette Renee, 43-year-old Moses Kosbruk Jr. was last seen aboard at about 3 a.m. Friday. He was reported to troopers as missing at about 5 p.m. A Coast Guard helicopter was sent Friday evening to search the water near Chignik Lagoon, a community of about 100 people on the Alaska Peninsula.

I once visited the valley as one of a dozen people on a 10-day field trip with John Eichelberger, who then worked at the Alaska Volcano Observatory. As we approached the valley the first day on a bus ride from Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park, the story of the 1912 Katmai eruption began to unfold. A few miles before we reached the valley, we saw the skeletons of spruce trees, bone white and surrounded by green bushes. The trees have been standing dead since early June 1912, when falling ash killed them.