Posted on 01/27/2006 6:22:19 PM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
ANCHORAGE, Alaska Jan 27, 2006 — Ridges of Arctic Ocean sea ice were shoved onto a Barrow road in quantities not seen in nearly three decades.
Two ice surges, known to Alaska Natives as ivus, stunned residents who had never seen large blocks of ice rammed ashore.
"It just looked like a big old mountain of ice," said L.A. Leavitt, 19, who left his nightshift job at the city early Tuesday to check out the ridges.
Ivus are like frozen tsunamis and crash ashore violently. They have killed hunters and are among the Arctic's most feared natural phenomena.
Residents said the northernmost ivu, about 20 feet high and 100 feet long, contained car-size blocks and left coastal Stevenson Road with only one lane.
The ice stopped about 30 feet short of a borough pump station that provides access to Barrow's underground water and sewer system, said North Slope Borough disaster coordinator Rob Elkins.
Strong winds from Russia and eastward currents began pushing pack ice toward Barrow on Saturday, Elkins said.
By late Monday night, thick, old sea ice, called multiyear ice, had shoved younger, thinner ice onto shore.
Elkins, who got a 5 a.m. Tuesday wake-up call from police, said a second ivu on the south side of town came to rest near a smaller coastal road and an empty playground. That ridge stretched about 200 feet.
"It was just an amazing sight," said Elkins, a five-year Barrow resident. "It looks like huge stacks of huge ice cubes."
The ivus, about two miles apart, had stopped moving when Elkins arrived. Bulldozers cleared the ice.
Winds from the west slowed Tuesday afternoon. Whalers also noted that a protective pressure ridge had formed more than a mile offshore.
Whaling captain Charlie Hopson, who coordinates oil spill responses in the area, said he could see blocks of ice churning slowly in the frozen ocean.
Whalers were happy to see the approach of multiyear ice. A solid platform of nearshore ice means safer travel and butchering.
"We always want this thing to happen before the whaling season to help get the ice solid and safe to travel on and then we can pick our way out to the lead," Hopson said.
Whaling co-captain Lloyd Leavitt said he had not seen such a big ivu since 1978, when winds peaked at 80 mph and blocks of multiyear ice about 12 feet thick slid ashore like pancakes from a frying pan.
"It knocked down all the power poles on the beach front, every last one from the Barrow mechanical building to Browerville," he said.
Slick Willie's facial features bear a strong resemblance to those of Jimmie Carter.
Those are newer than the one I was referring to.
Killing you, I help design facilities for the North Slope!!
OK, let me explain to you how to do this: design facilities that use nothing, produce nothing, and are invisible and the envirowhackos will be happy... Oh, and be sure to remember cut-outs so the caribou are not inconvenienced...
I know all about it. I worked at Milne Point and for about 10 days in late July it was caribou as far as the eye could see. They really like getting under the buildings that are up on pilings to get away from the bugs which made for some interesting encounters when I was out walking between facilities.
Watched musk ox using the reflective road markers as scratching posts too. Quiviut all over the place.
Yup, those animals simply cannot adapt to development, can they?
Global warming is an excellent solution to avoid societal stagnation. As resources become depleted and infrastructure ages/sustains eco and other damage, the intelligent population can look to the Alaskan land mass as the next movement westward. Isn't Alaska almost as large as NA? NA would be left to the rest. Barterland. LOL.
Classic bullsh** reporting. Please think about this:
"Ridges of Arctic Ocean sea ice were shoved onto a Barrow road in quantities not seen in nearly three decades.
Two ice surges, known to Alaska Natives as ivus, stunned residents who had never seen large blocks of ice rammed ashore."
Let's work this through.
The phenomenon last occurred about 30 years ago.
The stunned residents have never seen large blocks of ice rammed ashore.
Ergo - everyone quoted in the story must either be 1.) younger than 30 or 2.) from somewhere outside the Arctic Ocean or 3.) stupid and blind. I'm willing to be the answer is a combination of 1.) and 3.).
Actually, wind-pushed blocks of ice coming on shore is not a rare occurrance. It is newsworthy because it's happening in the northernmost town in the United States, and the ice has come within 30 feet of important infrastructure.
To put this in lower 48 perspective, imagine a tornado going through a medium-sized town. In one sentence you have the historical facts: it's been 30 years since a tornado in town. In the next sentence, "stunned residents" have never seen a tornado before. Does it make sense?
This forum is amazing! No matter how remote the spot or obscure the topic, one or more Freepers have 'been there, done that' and can give you the straight skinny.
When we were building the main camps at Prudhoe, that little refinery provided gasoline and diesel for our machines and vehicles. The diesel was okay, but the gasoline was raw so the lifetime of gasoline engines in pickup trucks was about 10,000 miles.
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(Please FReepmail if you want on, or off, this list. I certainly have no desire to increase anyone’s stress-level. Thanks!!!)
Beat me to it.
I thought Prudhoe Bay was Hell frozen over.
Only for 9 months a year... the other three its just plain miserable except for 4 or 5 days in late July when it can actually get up into the 80's.
Thanks for the ping! I don't miss a damn thing about Prudhoe except that they're not drilling ANWR yet!
Sounds like an interesting quarter of the woods.
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