Alert archive / Alaska / Wind Chill Advisories in 2018
Wind Chill Advisory 1, NWS Anchorage, AK
NWS Anchorage, AK issued this wind chill advisory at Jan 21, 2018, 11:56 AM AKST. It took effect at Jan 22, 2018, 12:00 AM AKST. It was in force for 9 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 21, 2018, 11:56 AM AKST (20:56 UTC)
- In effect from
- Jan 22, 2018, 12:00 AM AKST
- Expired
- Jan 22, 2018, 8:55 AM AKST
- In force
- 9 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Anchorage, AK
The text
As transmitted.
374 WWAK42 PAFC 212056 WSWALU URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Anchorage AK 1156 AM AKST Sun Jan 21 2018 AKZ155-221500- /O.NEW.PAFC.WC.Y.0001.180122T0900Z-180122T2100Z/ Kuskokwim Delta- Including the cities of Bethel, Hooper Bay, and Nunivak Island 1156 AM AKST Sun Jan 21 2018 ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO NOON AKST MONDAY... * WHAT...Very cold wind chills expected. The cold wind chills will cause frostbite in as little as 30 minutes to exposed skin. Expect wind chills to range from 35 below zero to 45 below zero. * WHERE...Kuskokwim Delta. * WHEN...Midnight to noon Monday. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Winds of 15 to 25 mph will combine with temperatures of 10 below to 20 below zero to create the low wind chills. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Wind Chill Advisory means that cold air and the wind will combine to create low wind chills. Frost bite and hypothermia can occur if precautions are not taken. Make sure you wear a hat and gloves. $$ http://www.weather.gov/afc
2 follow-up statements
039 WWAK42 PAFC 221219 WSWALU URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Anchorage AK 319 AM AKST Mon Jan 22 2018 AKZ155-222100- /O.CON.PAFC.WC.Y.0001.000000T0000Z-180122T2100Z/ Kuskokwim Delta- Including the cities of Bethel, Hooper Bay, and Nunivak Island 319 AM AKST Mon Jan 22 2018 ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON AKST TODAY... * WHAT...Very cold wind chills expected. The cold wind chills will cause frostbite in as little as 30 minutes to exposed skin. Expect wind chills to range from 25 below zero to 40 below zero. * WHERE...Kuskokwim Delta. * WHEN...Until noon today. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Winds of 15 to 25 mph will combine with temperatures of 10 below to 15 below zero to create the low wind chills. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Wind Chill Advisory means that cold air and the wind will combine to create low wind chills. Frost bite and hypothermia can occur if precautions are not taken. Make sure you wear a hat and gloves. $$ http://www.weather.gov/afc
772 WWAK42 PAFC 221755 WSWALU URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Anchorage AK 855 AM AKST Mon Jan 22 2018 AKZ155-221900- /O.CAN.PAFC.WC.Y.0001.000000T0000Z-180122T2100Z/ Kuskokwim Delta- Including the cities of Bethel, Hooper Bay, and Nunivak Island 855 AM AKST Mon Jan 22 2018 ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS CANCELLED... Winds are diminishing across the area, so wind chills are no longer meeting advisory criteria. $$ http://www.weather.gov/afc
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this wind chill advisory 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 wind chill advisory went out at Jan 21, 4:25 AM AKST, 7 hours 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 4:25 AM AKST, 7 hours 31 minutes before
Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Anchorage AK 425 AM AKST Sun Jan 21 2018 .ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS... A highly amplified pattern remains over the region this morning, with a broad longwave trough encompassing much of the Gulf and mainland Alaska while a stout ridge persists over the central Bering Sea. This is supporting fairly benign clear to partly cloudy conditions across much of the southern mainland as temperatures drop near or below zero inland and into the teens or single digits along the coast. A north-south oriented jet streak between the two primary synoptic features is also supporting brisk northerly winds over the southwest mainland, allowing wind chill values to dip a little lower. Light snow has started to spread into eastern portions of Prince William Sound as a weak surface low pushes westward across the Gulf. A developing upper low embedded within the longwave trough is also bringing a few snow showers to portions of the western Gulf and the Alaska Peninsula. Marine stratus dominates most of the rest of the Bering beneath the ridge, although a quasi-stationary front is bringing rain and gusty southeast winds to parts of the Western Aleutians. && .MODEL DISCUSSION... Models remain in good synoptic agreement through the short term as the longwave trough remains over the mainland and the disturbance near Kodiak Island evolves into a broad upper low over the southern Gulf. This will send several smaller waves towards the Gulf coast through Tuesday, keeping a higher chance for precipitation along the coast as a modest offshore gradient remains over Southcentral. Some differences begin to emerge with respect to these individual waves moving through the northern Gulf early in the week, with the NAM becoming the biggest outlier by Monday. && .AVIATION... PANC...VFR conditions and light north winds are expected to persist through Monday morning. It is possible that some light snow will spread into the terminal this afternoon after 00z. This may lower ceilings below 5000 ft, but conditions are expected to remain at VFR for the duration of any precipitation. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 and 2: Sunday & Monday)... Outflow conditions will continue across The northern and western Gulf through today with localized gap flows inland. A weak low and associated trough move west across the Gulf today spreading snow to the Gulf coast this morning and to the eastern Kenai Peninsula by early afternoon. Isentropic lift/overrunning light snow/flurries will likely make it into the Anchorage Bowl/Matanuska Valley late this afternoon and should linger into the early evening hours with little accumulation expected. Tonight and Monday Localized gusty outflow conditions will continue across the Southcentral, though weaker then previous days. However Gales/Gale gusts will continues across the Barren Island marine areas and Gaps along the Aleutian Range. The next in a series of surface lows and associated frontal boundary heads west across the Gulf Monday/Monday night continuing elevated chances of snow across the Gulf coast/eastern Kenai Peninsula. This system will even bring increased chances of snow across the Anchorage Bowl and Matanuska Valley late Monday night into Tuesday. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA (Days 1 and 2)... Over the next couple of days the story remains the same for the southwest Mainland, as arctic air pours into the region and causes persistent offshore flow and declining temperatures. This will continue to push both daytime highs and lows downward with increasing threats for bitter wind chills approaching -40F. This will be most likely where the winds are the strongest, so it is likely the Kuskokwim Delta will realize the coldest wind chills. As the light snow showers along the Kuskokwim Delta coast taper off early this morning, cold and windy conditions with clearing skies will resume today and carry into early next week. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days 1 and 2)... High pressure settling over the central part of the Bering Sea will induce more of an easterly flow component as cold air pours over the eastern Bering Sea, and a gale force front moves into the western Aleutians then stalls. This front looks like it will not make further progress than the western Aleutians and begin to dissipate this afternoon. With the colder air and winds pouring over the Bering Sea, expect freezing spray to be a threat from the Pribilof Islands eastward, with heavy freezing spray over the far eastern Bering and along the ice edge. && .LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 3 through 7)... Beginning the extended period forecast Monday night, the main feature of interest will be a very cold upper vortex situated over the North Slope of Alaska. Another low will be in the vicinity of the Gulf of Alaska. A deep arctic air mass will be in place over all of Alaska, although the bitterly cold air will still be north of the Alaska Range. The first item of interest will be the potential for snowfall across Southcentral. As the upper trough digs south and interacts with the Gulf low, this will set up a potential favorable setup for light snow. As usual, however, the degree of phasing between the two upper troughs is rather low confidence at this point with some runs of the GFS, NAM and ECMWF showing the possibility of weak deformation banding from the Kenai Peninsula northward. However, run-to-run consistency is low, so stuck with a continuation of broad chance snow POPS until there is more clarity with regards to the interaction of the two troughs. Eventually, the cold upper vortex will move south into Bristol Bay and dig into the southwest Gulf of Alaska, bringing down all of the deep arctic air with it. This will bring the coldest temperatures to Southwest Alaska, but Southcentral will also drop well below average region wide by Wednesday and likely lasting through Thursday. As the low forms over the Gulf, this will introduce more of an easterly flow component aloft, and with offshore flow, will likely keep precipitation predominantly along the coast with much lesser chances inland. Temperatures will moderate some by the weekend, but will generally run below average across all of southern Alaska. && .AFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...None MARINE...Gale Warning 127 130 131 132 137 138 150 155 165 172 177 178 180 411 Heavy Freezing Spray 130 131 138 139 160 180 181 && SYNOPSIS AND MODEL DISCUSSION...CB AVIATION...CB SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...RMC SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS...TP LONG TERM...AHSENMACHER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Anchorage, AK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 20, 3:28 PM AKST | Gale Warning | AFC | 6 days | |
| Jan 20, 3:28 PM AKST | Small Craft Advisory | AFC | 49 hr | |
| Jan 20, 3:28 PM AKST | Heavy Freezing Spray Warning | AFC | 12 hr | |
| Jan 21, 3:30 AM AKST | Gale Warning | AFC | 48 hr | |
| Jan 21, 3:55 AM AKST | Gale Warning | AFC | 12 hr | |
| Jan 21, 3:55 AM AKST | Small Craft Advisory | AFC | 72 hr | |
| Jan 21, 3:55 AM AKST | Heavy Freezing Spray Warning | AFC | 36 hr |
Nearby
Wind Chill Advisories in Alaska, 2018Every wind chill advisory in 2018
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text.