2011 Bering Sea superstorm

November 2011 Bering Sea cyclone

Satellite image of the storm intensifying on November 8, 2011
Type	Extratropical cyclone Bomb cyclone Blizzard
Formed	November 4, 2011
Dissipated	November 11, 2011
Lowest pressure	943 millibars (hPa; 27.85 inHg)
Lowest temperature	Wind chill of −17 °F (−27 °C) in Red Dog Dock, Alaska
Highest gust	93 mph (150 km/h) on Little Diomede Island
Maximum snowfall or ice accretion	6.4 in (16 cm) in Nome, Alaska
Damage	At least $24 million
Casualties	1 fatality total
Areas affected	Northeast China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Alaska, Chukotka

The November 2011 Bering Sea cyclone was one of the most powerful extratropical cyclones to affect Alaska on record. On November 8, the National Weather Service (NWS) began issuing severe weather warnings, saying that this was a near-record (or record) storm in the Bering Sea. It rapidly deepened from 973 mb (28.7 inHg) to 948 mb (28.0 inHg) in just 24 hours before bottoming out at 943 mbar (hPa; 27.85 inHg), roughly comparable to a Category 3 or 4 hurricane. The storm had been deemed life-threatening by many people. The storm had a forward speed of at least 60 mph (97 km/h) before it had reached Alaska. The storm began affecting Alaska in the late hours of November 8, 2011. The highest gust recorded was 93 mph (150 km/h) on Little Diomede Island. One person has been reported missing after being swept into the Bering Sea.

In early November 2011, an extratropical cyclone developed over the western Pacific Ocean. Gradually intensifying, the system moved rapidly northeastward at 60 mph (97 km/h) and reached the southern Aleutian Islands by November 8 with a barometric pressure estimated at 960 mbar (hPa; 28.35 inHg). Though still intensifying, winds associated with the storm were already estimated in excess of hurricane-force. By 9:00 p.m. AKST, the system had attained a pressure around 943 mbar (hPa; 27.85 inHg) while near the Gulf of Anadyr. This made it one of the most powerful storms on record in the region, comparable to the November 1974 storm in Nome, Alaska, which is regarded as "the most severe in Nome in 113 years of record keeping." According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the system was forecast to have sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) over an area the size of Colorado. After weakening somewhat, the storm crossed the Chukotsk Peninsula around 9:00 a.m. AKST on November 9 before moving over the Chukchi Sea later that day. Once back over water, the extratropical cyclone turned towards the northwest and was last noted as a 975 mbar (hPa; 28.80 inHg) low on November 10, about 150 mi (240 km) north of Wrangel Island.