Alert archive / Alaska / Gale Warnings in 2008
Gale Warning 311, NWS Anchorage, AK
NWS Anchorage, AK issued this gale warning at Mar 16, 2008, 11:00 PM AKDT. It was in force for 60 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 16, 2008, 11:00 PM AKDT (07:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 19, 2008, 11:00 AM AKDT
- In force
- 60 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Anchorage, AK
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this gale warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this gale warning went out at Mar 16, 9:00 AM AKDT, 14 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 16, 9:00 AM AKDT, 14 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA 200 PM ADT SUN MAR 16 2008 .MODEL DISCUSSION...MODELS CONTINUE STREAK OF INITIALIZING WELL AND RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY LEADING TO INCREASED CONFIDENCE IN THE SHORT AND MID TERM SOLUTIONS. LARGEST DIFFERENCES ARRIVE LATER IN THE WEEK WITH DEVELOPING NPAC LOW. HAVE LEFT FORECAST ALONE BEYOND MID WEEK UNTIL MODELS COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT. .ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS... THREE HEADED LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER OUR FORECAST DOMAIN WITH MAIN LOW OVER THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS...A SECONDARY LOW IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF...AND A THIRD WEAKER LOW NEAR THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA. UPPER TROF AXIS IN PROGRESS OF SHIFTING FROM THE EASTERN BERING TO THE NORTHERN GULF WHERE IT WILL RESIDE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. CHALLENGES ARISE FROM FORECASTING THE TIMING AND IMPACTS OF SEVERAL SHORT WAVES ROTATING AROUND THE UPPER LOW. .SHORT TERM FORECAST... SOUTHCENTRAL...RELATIVELY STRAIGHT FORWARD FORECAST FOR SOUTHCENTRAL WITH WEAK GRADIENT AT ALL LEVELS AS BROAD TROF MOVES INTO THE NORTHERN GULF OVERNIGHT. THE PRESSURE AND THERMAL GRADIENT INCREASE WITH TIME AS THE STACKED LOW BECOMES ESTABLISHED NEAR MIDDLETON ISLAND. THIS WILL LEAD TO GAP WINDS IN THE NORMAL PLACES AND SNOW SHOWERS MAINLY CONFINED TO THE COAST. THOMPSON PASS ALREADY SHOWING SIGNS OF STRONG WIND HEADLINE CRITERIA. ALTHOUGH MODELS TREND TOWARD A DRYING PATTERN...HAVE TO STEP CAUTIOUSLY AS THIS PATTERN IS CONDUCIVE TO SURPRISE SNOW EVENTS IN THE ANCHORAGE BOWL. THE UPPER LOW OVER THE NORTHEASTERN GULF COUPLED WITH WEAK SURFACE LOWS DEVELOPING AND MEANDERING ABOUT MIDDLETON ISLAND TO PWS CAN VERY EASILY LEAD TO LIGHT SNOW IN ANCHORAGE. IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT BUT BELIEVE AT SOME POINT THIS WEEK WE WILL SEE SOME SNOW. WEST...COLD AIR WILL BE FILTERING BACK OVER SOUTHWEST ALASKA AND THE EASTERN BERING SEA AS THE AFOREMENTIONED LOW SHIFTS EAST INTO THE NORTHERN GULF. AGAIN...TIMING AND STRENGTH OF THE SHORTWAVES WILL BE THE BIGGEST FORECAST CHALLENGE. WIDESPREAD SNOW OVER THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA IN THE VICINITY OF THE STRONGEST VORT MAX TODAY. THIS FEATURE WILL SHIFT SOUTHWARD INTO BRISTOL BAY...LIKELY TAKING THE SNOW WITH IT. THERE IS SOME CONCERN RIGHT ALONG THE COAST WHERE WINDS HAVE ALREADY SHIFTED TO THE NORTH AND FRESH SNOW HAS FALLEN OVER THE PAST 24 HOURS. IF WINDS CAN SUSTAIN...WE COULD SEE MORE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ALONG THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA COAST. FOR NOW...WILL WORD THE FORECAST HEAVILY TOWARD THAT BUT HOLD BACK ON ISSUING ANOTHER BLIZZARD WARNING. SIMILAR STORY OVER THE ALEUTIANS AND THE PRIBILOFS WHERE SNOW SHOWERS AND BLUSTERY NORTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST MID WEEK...IF NOT ALL WEEK LONG. WAITING PATIENTLY FOR CIRRUS SHIELD TO MOVE SOUTH THE PRIBILOFS SO WE CAN GET A BETTER LOOK OF THE SEA ICE. THE FORECAST FOR THE PRIBILOFS WILL CHANGE DEPENDING ON HOW FAR SOUTH THE ICE EDGE IS...AT THIS POINT BELIEVE ST PAUL MAY ESCAPE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AND JUST SEE SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. ST GEORGE ISLAND WILL HAVE ENOUGH WATER BETWEEN THEM AND THE ICE TO ALLOW SHOWERS TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP...COUPLED WITH THE STRONG WINDS COULD LEND TO BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. WE ARE WATCHING CLOSELY AND MAY HAVE TO MAKE A LAST MINUTE DECISION ON A ST GEORGE ISLAND BLIZZARD. THE EASTERN AND CENTRAL ALEUTIANS WILL SEE NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS AND BLUSTERY WINDS AS WELL. THE FORECAST WILL BE WORDED STRONGLY TOWARD SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW FOR THE AKPEN AS THE FIRST PUSH OF COLD AIR ARRIVES MONDAY MORNING AND THEN A SECOND STRONGER PUSH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. AFTER THAT...THE TIMING BECOMES DIFFICULT BUT THERE IS NO INDICATION THE PATTERN WILL SHIFT SO WILL KEEP SNOW SHOWERS IN THE FORECAST THROUGH THE WEEK. .LONG TERM FORECAST...LONG RANGE MODELS HINTING AT OMEGA BLOCKING RIDGE DEVELOPING OVER THE WESTERN BERING SEA WHICH WOULD KEEP THE EASTERN BERING IN COLD NORTHERLY FLOW AND SOUTHCENTRAL IN SEASONAL COOL TEMPERATURES. .AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY PUBLIC...NONE. MARINE...GALES 150 155 160 165 170 172 179. FIRE WEATHER...NONE. AB MAR 08
In the hours before
Local storm report, Mar 16, 5:31 PM AKDT, 5 hours 29 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Anchorage, AK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 11:00 PM AKDT | Small Craft Advisory | AFC | 66 hr | |
| Mar 16, 11:00 PM AKDT | Small Craft Advisory | AFC | 24 hr | |
| Mar 16, 11:44 PM AKDT | Blizzard Warning | AFC | 16 hr | |
| Mar 17, 1:50 AM AKDT | Small Craft Advisory | AFC | 9 hr | |
| Mar 17, 3:50 AM AKDT | Heavy Freezing Spray Warning | AFC | 9 days | |
| Mar 17, 11:00 AM AKDT | Gale Warning | AFC | 60 hr | |
| Mar 17, 11:00 AM AKDT | Small Craft Advisory | AFC | 3 days | |
| Mar 17, 11:00 AM AKDT | Small Craft Advisory | AFC | 4 days |
Nearby
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text.