I had heard that the road to Barrow Point was washed out by a storm last week during a meeting and I was encouraged to go out and take a look at the road damage. I ran out there a couple of days ago but neglected to bring a camera. Today, after sunrise (10:56am), I drove out again to take a couple of pictures. As you can see, the waves have pretty much washed out the road and even to get this far, you veer off onto the old military runway that parallels the road. The speed limit sign is where the road used to be. The "new" trail still has waves breaking over it so I imagine that it is pretty waterlogged so I didn't venture out much further.
There isn't much elevation so any sort of storm surge could wash out the road. This section of land separating the Beaufort Sea to the northwest and Elson Lagoon to the southeast, isn't more than maybe 150m wide. There was a fairly strong wind blowing from the northwest at about 30 knots and but in the leaky hut it sounded like a hurricane last night. The hut is about 100m from the water and this morning everything, including the stairs and the truck, was covered with a layer of ice making things difficult.
This is the ocean view from the hut and as you can see, it isn't that far away and the 20-30 kt wind is continuing this evening blowing spray from the ocean. There is nothing to block the wind anymore. For a couple of years, there was a Shell project which had a pile of equipment and shipping containers on the lot between here and the ocean but that stage of the project is now complete.
There is a level of understatement that makes it difficult to comprehend Barrow, starting with sunrise at 11 in the morning. It just seems a bit late. A fairly strong wind of 30 knots begs the question of how strong does the wind blow when it's actually strong? And if my house were lined with ice I would imagine I might find daily living t be impossible rather than difficult. Alaska is too much for me. A cool north wind had me scurrying for a sweater this week even if it is 82 degrees.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's a challenging place to live. Strong winds would be 40-60mph and can occur at anytime of the year. In about a month, the sun will set for the last time until the end of January but the really cold weather doesn't set in until around the end of December as the temperatures are moderated by the ocean.
DeleteThe only problem with the ice right now is that it makes the stairs a bit treacherous.
Richard:
ReplyDeleteI hope you are keeping warm. You mean you are staying in that Hut 100m from the water ? I guess the spray froze, would have made for some spectacular photos. We don't get to see stuff like that
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube
Plenty warm since I just go from building to truck to building. I'm not spending too much time outside. Even a minute without gloves is almost too long with the humidity and wind.
DeleteWhat a contrast to Roger's pics from the other side of the world.
ReplyDeleteI am regularly getting cold when reading your posts but I can't stay away from it either... do I need therapy?
Right now, you can look out your window and see the (warm) rain and think that things could be worse...
DeleteI think that I'm the one that needs therapy.
It's amazing to say this, but your photos remind me of a typical (what used to be) winter up here and what Lake Michigan would look like. Those are brutal scenes and I'd probably spend a lot of time in that sushi bar. WE don't have one here. Best wishes, Richard.
ReplyDeleteI hear that the winters in Minnesota and Michigan are a lot harsher than in much of Alaska because of the wind. How long, typically, before the lakes freeze?
DeleteI would like to have dinner at Osaka's more often but one dinner is more than one days per diem.
Oh. Gee. I would say that the Lake never freezes, but Green Bay will freeze a few inches after a few days and nights of temps in the teens. Fishermen go out as soon as they can walk on water.
DeleteWhere I am in WI it is the most mild in the state because of water on three sides. But boy do we get wind.
Oh, but the strait of Porte Des Morts where the Bay and Lake merge does freeze solid. Coast Guard has to come out and break it up for the ferry and any freighters that come thru. That would be a typical old time hard winter of many days of 0 and below.
DeleteEven worse, humid, cold and windy. In Fairbanks, it is a very dry cold without any wind. So even at -25°F, it still feels nice enough to go for a walk.
DeleteI had no idea Fairbanks was like that. I think I can imagine that, tho. When it's been -10 or lower here a few days, 0 seems really nice!
DeleteDear Richard M:
ReplyDeleteI find in prophetic that you described the wind as sounding like a hurricane. I have become an authority on what a hurricane sounds like. Landfall for Hurricane Sandy is estimated to be about 14 inches to left of my ass.
I dozed off around 3:45am, listening to the droning of newscasters predicting the end of the world. I woke up at 5am to absolute silence.
"Aaaaah, it was all bullshit I thought. And then the wind started to howl. The storm was still 345 miles away. It will get interesting tonight.
Did you spend the night in the hut you mentioned?
Fondest regards,
Jack/reep
Twisted Roads
Here it's just the sound of the wind and you can hear small ice particles hitting the windows. Plus there are a lot of leaks where you can feel the outside air. I guess it isn't worth spending the money to make the hut more weatherproof if the natural gas cost is really low.
DeleteI hope you get through Sandy without any problems. I hear that it should be a doozy...
It would be weird to wake up and find everything coated with ice and think it is from spray from the sea blowing around and freezing. We have bouts of freezing rain every once in a while and it is no fun trying to thaw the locks on the car door. I can imagine Barrow would get similar situations depending on how the wind/spray was blowing.
ReplyDeleteAt least here no one bothers locking their car doors. If you steal a car, where are you going to go? On houses, you leave the first door, the entrance to the arctic entry, unlocked all the time in case someone needs to duck for cover in case a polar bear shows up. At least that's what we are told to do.
DeleteLife is just a little different around here...
I love the last sentence in your response to Lady Trobairitz's comment: "Life is just a little different around here." Speak of understatement.
ReplyDeleteI spent a long while gazing at the last photo. Wonderful.
~k
You always need to look around outside before you commit to heading out the door. Especially since this hut is right at the edge of the NARL campus. I saw a number of arctic foxes on this trip (of course I didn't have my camera out) and I was told to watch out for them as many hanging around prople have rabies. Fun...
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