Valdez is one of the larger towns on the 'coast' of Alaska. I put coast in quotes because Valdez is actually 70 miles from the open ocean; between Valdez and the North Pacific (Gulf of Alaska) there is a large, semi-closed body of water called Prince William Sound.
Valdez is the oil terminus for the trans-Alaska pipeline. In addition to oil the other major industries of Valdez are fishing and tourism. During the summer fishing and tourism make Valdez a boom town; durning the winter things are pretty quiet.
Valdez has a typical Alaskan maritime climate. It is warm and wet (snowy) in the winter (temperatures seldom get far below freezing, and the port doesn't freeze). During the summer it is cool and rainy.
The population of Valdez is about 3,500.
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