An Aleutian volcano that looked like it might blow earlier this year has stopped rumbling. An earthquake swarm in August at Little Sitkin volcano, near the end of the chain, had scientists on high alert for further activity. But after months of decreasing seismicity, on Wednesday, the Alaska Volcano Observatory downgraded Little Sitkin’s alert level to green or “normal.”

The National Weather Service is forecasting a warm, wet weekend for the Aleutians, Southcentral and Interior Alaska. Lead forecaster Bill Ludwig says a storm pulling air from the tropics is responsible.

“The reason it’s interesting is because of the long fetch of moisture coming up from the south and pushing into Alaska, so it’s pushing up very moist and warm air from very far south. And that’s a little bit unusual at this year time of year to get that kind of weather.”

While the day’s not over yet, it appears the Apocalypse has been averted. But that doesn’t mean other natural disasters won’t strike. The U.S. Geological Survey is using the hype surrounding the forecasted end of the world to bring attention to the science behind forecasting the real natural disasters that threaten Alaska on a regular basis. KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce talked with USGS seismologist Sue Hough about predicting -- and preparing for -- the Earth’s next big disaster.

The National Weather Service is predicting another icy winter ahead for the Bering Sea. Lead ice forecaster Kathleen Cole released her winter outlook on Thursday. She’s predicting the eastern Bering Sea – including the Pribilof Islands – will have heavier ice accumulation than usual, in keeping with a multi-year trend for region.

Cole estimates the ice edge will reach St. Paul Island by mid-January and St. George by late January. That’s roughly the same timeline as last year, but in the outlook, Cole says the ice edge will likely follow its normal pattern of advance and retreat, instead of sticking around like it did last winter. That’s good news for snow crabbers, who struggled with persistent ice cover last winter that repeatedly shut down the fishery and ultimately ended up extending the season into June.

Mikeetnier/National Marine Mammal Laboratory

For years and years, a legal battle has been raging over the endangered western stock of Steller sea lions. That battle finally made its way to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week. The State of Alaska and the Freezer Longline Coalition petitioned to overturn a lower court ruling that said the National Marine Fisheries Service was justified in restricting fishing in order to protect the sea lions.

During oral arguments, both sides rehashed old points, mostly focusing on the fact that there isn’t much data available about the endangered marine mammals.

The Environmental Protection Agency has fined four Alaska seafood processing vessels for alleged Clean Water Act violations. The processors agreed to pay a combined total of more than $300,000 to settle the allegations, which revolve around seafood waste discharge. All four vessels process groundfish in the federal waters off Alaska’s coast, and dump unusable fish waste back into the ocean.

Bulldozer Infilling Pond/Credit: Stephanie Joyce

Given the housing shortage in Unalaska, one would expect a proposal to build new housing would be well-received --but that isn’t the case with a proposed project next to the high school. Some local residents are upset that the development involves filling in a pond.

The lot is owned by Glenn Olson and Archie Stepp. Stepp couldn’t be reached and Olson wouldn’t comment for this story, but he told the Army Corps of Engineers he intends to build an 8-plex on the property.

After several months of inactivity, Cleveland Volcano erupted on Saturday.

“It was a fairly nice-sized explosion. Put ash up to about, we estimate, 20,000 feet," says Alaska Volcano Observatory seismologist John Power.

He says the ash cloud didn’t interfere with local aviation, even though satellite images show it drifted to within 60 miles of Unalaska. Nevertheless, the Observatory has raised the aviation alert level to orange. That’s because this latest eruption probably isn’t the volcano’s last.

(Wikimedia)

Winter has arrived in Unalaska. A big storm has brought in colder temperatures and strong winds. It’s also brought in some unusual precipitation, too.

KUCB's Alexandra Gutierrez explains just what's going on with the weather.