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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/

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 · 2h

I’ve got a short piece up in The Conversation on the catastrophic flooding in Southwest Alaska from ex-typhoon Halong and the challenges of recovery work. #akwx #ExtremeWeather #Alaska #AlaskaSky

theconversation.com/typhoon-leav...

Typhoon leaves flooded Alaska villages facing a storm recovery far tougher than most Americans will ever experience

‘As the storm approached Alaska, everything went sideways,’ leaving people no time to evacuate and little time to prepare. An Alaska meteorologist explains what happened and the challenges ahead.

theconversation.com

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 3h

Friendly annual reminder that millennia before Columbus, the land and sea now called Alaska was home to diverse peoples with distinct, thriving cultures who had no need to be "discovered". And their descendants are still here. Map courtesy #Alaska Native Language Center at UAF. #IndigenousPeoplesDay

Map showing Indigenous language areas in and around Alaska.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 3h

High temperatures (ºF) in and around Alaska on Monday. Continued warmer than normal for mid-October almost everywhere in the region. #akwx #weather

Map centered on Alaska showing site-specific high temperatures (ºF) on Monday, October 13, 2025. Plotted temperature range from 25F at Anadyr, Russia to 60F at Kodiak, AK.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 4h

Quyana

Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 4h

It may interest you know that the region devastated voted Harris 51% Trump 39%.

Reposted by Rick Thoman

Corinne Smith @corinne-smith.bsky.social · 14h

Student journalist Renasia Uisok reports on the storm damage in their community of Kotlik!

For QTV Kotlik "Quyana TV," produced by middle and high schoolers.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOIk...

Typhoondamagekotlik

YouTube video by QTV Kotlik

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Rick Thoman

Alaska Beacon @alaskabeacon.com · 15h

One dead, dozens rescued and roughly 1,000 displaced in western Alaska communities hit by ex-typhoon, reports Corinne Smith for @alaskabeacon.com

One dead, dozens rescued and roughly 1,000 displaced in western Alaska communities hit by ex-typhoon | Alaska Beacon

Search and rescue efforts continued into Monday in the Kuskokwim River delta in the aftermath of ex-Typhoon Halong.

alaskabeacon.com

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Reposted by Rick Thoman

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

mt edgecumbe yupik dance group has taken the stage tonight in sheet’ka kwaan with a full house

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 15h

As after Merbok, scrambling to get flyers printed in Inuktitut?

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 15h

Quyana.

Reposted by Rick Thoman

Anchorage Daily News @adn.com · 16h

UPDATED: One woman has been found dead in the village of Kwigillingok, where another two people remain unaccounted for, after a devastating storm battered Western Alaska over the weekend.

Woman found dead, dozens rescued and over 1,000 displaced after storm devastates Western Alaska

Winds over 100 mph and record tidal surges pounded the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta on Sunday as the remnants of Typhoon Halong inundated some Bering Sea coast communities.

www.adn.com

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 16h

Quyana

Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 16h

Quyana

Reposted by Rick Thoman

CeeJay Johnson-Yellow Hawk @adriftalchemist.bsky.social · 16h

to our yupik relatives in western alaska

sheet’ka kwaan stands with and supports you during your time of need

tonight, at our indigenous day celebration, we put a blanket down for your communities and gathered donations that will be sent to assist with disaster recovery

ixsixan—WE LOVE YOU ☺️

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 16h

Same.

Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 17h

If you're able, please consider a donation to the Alaska Community Fund to help people in western Alaska impacted by ex-typhoon Halong even as winter is bearing down. All the money donated goes to the region. Quyana. #Alaska #AlaskaSky

alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...

Screen shot of the ACF Western Alaska Disaster Relief 2025 Fund:

"In response to recent severe storms, including Typhoon Halong, that devastated Alaska's western coast, local community organizations and regional partners have come together to establish the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund, housed at the Alaska Community Foundation.
Two major storm systems struck western Alaska in rapid succession, bringing record flooding, extreme winds, and extensive damage from Kwigillingok to Kotzebue. Homes have been damaged and destroyed, critical infrastructure compromised, and subsistence resources disrupted. The Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund will provide support to affected communities for immediate relief, recovery support, and long-term resilience, including disaster preparedness initiatives. Distribution decisions will be guided by advisors including regional leaders and stakeholders, ensuring resources reach affected communities based on locally identified needs.

The Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund brings together a growing list of local, regional, and statewide partners endorsing the fund, including:

Association of Village Council Presidents
Alaska Federation of Natives
Alaska Native Heritage Center
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
Bethel Community Services Foundation
Calista Corporation
Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation
First Alaskans Institute
Kawerak, Inc.
Native Peoples Action
Maniilaq Association

Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation"

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Reposted by Rick Thoman

ᒪᑰᓯ Mark Springer @markspringer.bsky.social · 18h

Senator Lyman Hoffman reporting 50% of Kipnuks utility poles are broken in half, and the runway has a crack right in the middle of it.

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Reposted by Rick Thoman

CeeJay Johnson-Yellow Hawk @adriftalchemist.bsky.social · 19h

Western Alaska Disaster Relief

#AlaskaSky

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Reposted by Rick Thoman

Corinne Smith @corinne-smith.bsky.social · 1d

Good morning from Bethel. I was here to cover a few cultural events, and am now covering the Western Alaska storm - damage, rescue and recovery efforts.

What questions do you have?

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Reposted by Rick Thoman

Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 21h

Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the 10th lowest on record (JAXA data)

• about 120,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,440,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 2,540,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 3,080,000 km² below the 1980s mean

More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...

Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to decadal averages from the 1980s to the 2010s. The decadal averages are shown with different colored lines with purple for the 1980s, blue for the 1990s, green for the 2000s, and white for the 2010s. Thin white lines are also shown for each year from 2000 to 2024. 2025 is shown with a thick gold line. There is a long-term decreasing trend in ice extent for every day of the year shown on this graph between August and November by looking at the decadal average line positions.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 21h

All storm surge. Rainfall amounts mostly less than one inch, except higher inland portions of Northwest Arctic Borough.

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 21h

Ok, thx.

Reposted by Rick Thoman

Emily Schwing @emilyschwing.bsky.social · 22h

What does Typhoon Halong reveal about housing conditions in Western Alaska? Here's a thread...👇

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 22h

Any estimates for Kipnuk?

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Reposted by Rick Thoman

Emily Schwing @emilyschwing.bsky.social · 22h

First, these numbers are wild:
Nightmute: at least 17 homes reported damage
Napakiak: reports of at least 20 homes with damage
Kwigillinok: 37 homes have drifted away in flood waters
Kotlik: footage shows an overturned house

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