Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was waving in this last series of pics. Do you see me?
Yep I see you lol
Hard to tell. There may be a tiny sliver of ice left wrapping the point, but I can't tell. The break-up forecast is not operational right now, so I'm guessing at this. It's really cloudy, so it's hard to see.
I haven't been to the point yet but there's a line of generally clear water from the shore for a few meters back and than all sorts of open water beyond a hundred foot or so stretch of ice. It will aaaaall be gone in a few weeks.
I checked the camera today and I have to ask if I am seeing correctly. Has breakup already occurred? If so OMG it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay early. I might just have to concede to global warming.
Depends which way the wind blows as well, the entire ice pack will move. One day it is clear and the next day it will be back. Normally we couldn't run the boats commercially in Prudhoe bay until around the firs to middle of July. But you can zip around, but the ice returns fast as well until it's melted far enough offshore for the summer. A few years ago, we could see the ice about ten miles off shore all Summer.
So the break up has happened at Barrow? I've been watching it for years and I've never seen it happen this early. WOW!!!
There is a tide twice a day that goes past Barrow (Arctic Ocean) , East to West and back, it moves at about three to five miles per hour. The water raises and drops about a foot or so at max, twice a day. There is really no "Break up" like you would have on the Nenana Ice Classics where they bet when the ice on the Tanana River goes out. The ice off Barrow is in the shallows and is frozen to the beach and the water is shallow for a ways out. But the Ice off the beach is always moving, it may not melt yet, but a southernly wind can push the entire ice cap off towards Norway/Russia then back. It is not anchored to anything, it always is moving. Even in the dark of winter there will be leads that open and close out on the ice. You can hear the Ice crack when you are out on it, kind of spooky.
Keep watching the ice cam, there may be no real ice visible, but in a day or two it will all be back again.
Just the nature of it.
This is a video of one of the man made drilling islands out in the Arctic Ocean about 200+- miles East of Barrow. The ice moves, but this island doesn't and shows what it looks like. The islands are designed to have the ice push up on them, break up and form a wall of ice to stop the rest, this was a bit more intense with the wind but you get the idea. Pretty neat seeing the power of Nature. This is one of the islands we delivered freight and people to with our boat.
This is the Barrow Sea Ice Cam, animation. You can see the ice moving off in the distance and the tide come and go, but it's not like 30' in Anchorage. But the ice up close is still frozen to the beach.
The kid that took the video and then posted it on youtube got fired because he posted it without the oil company's approval
Last edited by starlite9; 05-24-2014 at 08:18 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.