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Rick Thoman

@alaskawx.bsky.social

3.2K followers 310 following 2.7K posts

Climate specialist with ACCAP/IARC at UAF, highlighting Alaska and Arctic climate, environment & Indigenous cultures. Opinions are my own. Alaska and Arctic Climate Newsletter: https://alaskaclimate.substack.com/

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · Dec 3

Hot off the digital press: Alaska’s Changing Environment 2.0 is now online! Focused on observations and impacts to Alaskans. From warming air & ocean, ice & snow to salmon & berries. Please check it out. #akwx #Alaska #Climate #ClimateChange @climatologist49.bsky.social
uaf-accap.org/alaskas-chan...

Cover page of Alaska’s Change Environment with a photo of the November 2023 Wrangell landslide.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 40m

Indeed. South wind broke thru for some hours at Tok, whereas as usually happens, Northway/Beaver Creek area chinook protected.

Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 46m

No doubt a contributing factor.

Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 50m

High temperatures (ºF) in and around Alaska on Sunday. Warm air pushed north by ex-typhoon Halong evident in widespread well above normal temperatures central and eastern mainland Alaska. Not often that the state high temp is in Denali National Park, but Sunday was one of those days. #akwx #weather

Map centered on Alaska showing site-specific high temperatures (ºF) on Sunday, October 12, 2025. Plotted temperature range from 30F at Anadyr, Russia to 61F at Kantishna, AK.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 1h

You likely know this, but just in case not, peak ocean water level at Kotz with ex-Halong was four feet lower than last week’s storm.

Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 10h

I saw something but nothing specific. Do we have any details?

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Reposted by Rick Thoman

Erica 👻 🌲 📕 @rickirobin.bsky.social · 12h

A rainbow surprised me today

A wide densely forested valley with a visible cube of river, and a rainbow in the right third of the photo. In the distance, the sky is blue, which was surprising in the moment, but the surprise may be out of the scope of the photo

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Reposted by Rick Thoman

Vivian Faith Prescott @alaskapoet.bsky.social · 12h

“Troopers have received secondhand reports of people who are unaccounted for in Kipnuk and are continuing to work with local officials to verify and confirm how many people are missing,” DPS wrote.”

LIVE BLOG: Dozens of people rescued, some still unaccounted for, DPS says

Former Typhoon Halong made landfall overnight into Sunday. Its strongest impacts were felt in the Kuskokwim delta area.

www.alaskasnewssource.com

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 12h

Wind damage reports coming in from the western Interior, including downed trees and power lines and building roof damage at Koyukuk. Winds so strong at Huslia that boats were pushed out into the Koyukuk River. #akwx #Autumn2025

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 13h

Fairbanks Airport up to 57F Sunday, just 1ºF shy of the Oct 12 record of 58F set back in 1923. This is the latest date in the year it's been this mild since 2013. #akwx #Climate @carrieinfbx.bsky.social

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ᒪᑰᓯ Mark Springer @markspringer.bsky.social · 16h

My City Manager reports YKHC is mobilizing teams to get to Kipnuk and Kwigillingok with water and medical resources. Charter flights are being prepped to head to the coast.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 14h

To be clear, this is a coastal flooding disaster of unprecedented proportions at Kipnuk, and probably at Kwigillingok too.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 14h

Thank you very much. We're trying to assess whether this was the strongest storm on record to move from (just) west of the Pribilof Islands northeast through Shpanberg Strait, between St, Lawrence Island and the Yukon delta. I have no memory of a sub-970 hPa low following such track.

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Tomer Burg @burgwx.bsky.social · 14h

The remnants of Typhoon Halong appear to have potentially set a local ERA5 record (1950-2024) for lowest MSLP for the month of October:

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 14h

If case you're wonder if this is legit, this is through Alaska Community Foundation and so is the real deal.

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CeeJay Johnson-Yellow Hawk @adriftalchemist.bsky.social · 15h

Donate to Western Alaska Disaster Relief here:

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 15h

That is the best news today.

Reposted by Rick Thoman

Corinne Smith @corinne-smith.bsky.social · 15h

Update: 24 people from 2 floating homes in Kwigillingok were airlifted and rescued Sunday, according to a spokesperson with Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and transported to the airport.

No reported injuries or confirmed deaths in Kipnuk or Kwig.

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Reposted by Rick Thoman

Corinne Smith @corinne-smith.bsky.social · 16h

KYUK is also providing timely on-air radio and online updates on the search and rescue effort now centered on Kwigillingok and Kipnuk.

Anyone in need of immediate rescue should contact the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at 907-551-7230.

www.kyuk.org

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tundragranite.bsky.social @tundragranite.bsky.social · 16h

A place near and dear to my heart, umkumuit, a small fishing village near Toksook Bay, has been destroyed. It was where I had my c3 culture camp that introduced me to Alaska and made me decide to make alaska my home and do my best to teach the amazing students in the YK Delta..
#halong #alaskawx

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 16h

Yes, Kotz 23Z ATLM 28.70, Nome 29.20

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Angutekaraq Qakvalria @angutekaraq.bsky.social · 19h

From accounts with relatives from Kipnuk, the village is a total loss. One of my Elder relatives says it's wiped out. Those rectangular dots in the distance? Houses floating away

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 17h

I saw that. Thanks for the confirmation.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 17h

I ***think*** nearly all of the crests listed were from post-event high water mark surveys. Real-time gauging only since summer 2022, with significant gaps.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 17h

There are many gaps in the record, including August 2024 severe flooding.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 17h

Things you don't see every day: an actual Shoe House. #Pennsylvania

The Haines "Shoe House" in York, Pennsylvania. Photo taken June 2017.

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