Evaluation
of Reports of High Surf Events at Gambell, Saint Lawrence Island
During Mid Winter
Ted Fathauer
Atmospheric
Science Program,
Introduction. During the 1990’s, the National Weather Service
in Fairbanks received a number of reports of high surf at Gambell, Saint
Lawrence Island, in mid winter, when the edge of pack ice in the Bering Sea was
200-500 km south and west of the island. These were regarded as
impossible to explain, and of dubious credibility. Consequently, the
records of these reports were never published in Storm Data. However, the report from the German ice
breaker Polarstern, of significant wave energy propagating under the
Antarctic pack ice during a winter cruise, gave reason to reevaluate the Gambell
reports.
The purpose of this investigation was to
determine if such events on the beach at Gambell are impossible, or if there is
some reason to believe that they could indeed occur. From the available information, there is
reason to believe that the reports could have been accurate.