Pireps needed in western Alaska to help with storm recovery efforts

Post-tropical cyclone Merbok over the Bering Sea on September 16, 2022. Pilot weather reports are requested to help with recovery efforts. Image courtesy of the National Weather Service Ocean Prediction Center via Twitter.

As Federal Emergency Management Agency inspectors do damage assessment in the areas impacted by remnants of Typhoon Merbok, they have requested additional forecasting services from the NWS. While the existing but sparse network of surface weather reporting stations is operating, pireps can provide an additional set of observations to help forecasters respond to this challenge.

Even while these recovery efforts are underway, NWS is forecasting an additional storm moving in from eastern Russia at week’s end. NWS is specifically asking for reports in the area from the Kuskokwim River through Norton Sound to Kotzebue Sound. Pilots are reminded that pireps reporting benign weather are as much appreciated as those that document hazardous or unforecast conditions.