ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Western Alaska residents have braced for an unusual Bering Sea storm packing hurricane-force winds and giant waves.
By late Tuesday night, National Weather Service meteorologist Stephen Kearney in Fairbanks said the front of the storm had reached Nome, bringing 60 mph winds, blowing snow and visibility of just a quarter mile.
Kearney says the tiny community of Wales 80 miles northwest of Nome was seeing 75 mph gusts, which is hurricane strength, while the center of the storm was reported over St. Lawrence Island, southwest of Nome in the Bering.
Phone circuits to Nome rang busy late Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, state emergency management officials said some residents in the storm’s path had already headed for emergency shelters.
