Alert archive / Alaska / High Wind Warnings in 2023
High Wind Warning 5, NWS Anchorage, AK
NWS Anchorage, AK issued this high wind warning at Feb 20, 2023, 4:47 AM AKST. It took effect at Feb 21, 2023, 12:00 AM AKST. It was in force for 15 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
- Feb 20, 2023, 4:47 AM AKST (13:47 UTC)
- In effect from
- Feb 21, 2023, 12:00 AM AKST
- Expired
- Feb 21, 2023, 2:48 PM AKST
- In force
- 15 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Anchorage, AK
The text
As transmitted.
449 WWAK72 PAFC 201347 CCA NPWALU URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE...CORRECTED National Weather Service Anchorage AK 447 AM AKST Mon Feb 20 2023 AKZ187-210300- /O.UPG.PAFC.HW.A.0006.230221T0600Z-230221T1800Z/ /O.NEW.PAFC.HW.W.0005.230221T0900Z-230221T1800Z/ Central Aleutians- Including the city of Atka and Adak 447 AM AKST Mon Feb 20 2023 ...HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 AM AKST TUESDAY... * WHAT...Southwest winds 40 to 60 mph with gusts up to 75 mph expected. * WHERE...Central Aleutians. * WHEN...From midnight tonight to 9 AM AKST Tuesday. * IMPACTS...High winds may move loose debris, damage property, and cause power outages. Travel will be difficult. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Strongest winds are expected around 3 AM AKST for the cities of Adak and Atka. Wind direction will be west-southwest. Winds and lingering rainfall will subside rapidly after the wave departs to the north Tuesday morning. Temperatures are expected to stay above freezing for the duration of the event. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around or damaged by the wind. Prepare for the possibility of widespread power outages. Use caution if you must drive. && $$ AKZ195-210300- /O.COR.PAFC.HW.A.0007.230221T1200Z-230222T0300Z/ Pribilof Islands- Including the city of Saint Paul 447 AM AKST Mon Feb 20 2023 ...HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Southwest winds 45 to 55 mph with gusts up to 75 mph possible. * WHERE...Pribilof Islands. * WHEN...From late tonight through Tuesday afternoon. * IMPACTS...High winds could move loose debris, damage property, and cause power outages. Travel could be difficult. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...A rapidly approaching North Pacific low pressure system will enter the Bering today. This system is expected to produce high winds along the Central Aleutians tonight into Tuesday morning. Confidence is growing that this core of elevated winds will persist as the low advances northward toward the Pribilofs Tuesday morning. Wind direction is currently expected to be southwest. This wind flow appears favorable to produce waves up to 25 feet near St. Paul harbor. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A high wind watch means there is potential for a hazardous high wind event. Monitor the latest forecasts and warnings for updates on this situation. Fasten loose objects or shelter objects in a safe location prior to the onset of winds. && $$ For more information from the National Weather Service visit https://weather.gov/afc
3 follow-up statements
135 WWAK72 PAFC 210054 NPWALU URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Anchorage AK 354 PM AKST Mon Feb 20 2023 AKZ195-220300- /O.UPG.PAFC.HW.A.0007.230221T1200Z-230222T0300Z/ /O.EXB.PAFC.HW.W.0005.230221T1200Z-230222T0300Z/ Pribilof Islands- Including the city of Saint Paul 354 PM AKST Mon Feb 20 2023 ...HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 6 PM AKST TUESDAY... * WHAT...Southwest winds 45 to 55 mph with gusts up to 75 mph expected. * WHERE...Pribilof Islands. * WHEN...From 3 AM to 6 PM AKST Tuesday. * IMPACTS...High winds could move loose debris, damage property, and cause power outages. Travel could be difficult. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...A rapidly approaching North Pacific low pressure system will enter the Bering today. Confidence is growing that the core of elevated winds will persist as the low advances northward toward the Pribilof Islands Tuesday morning. Wind direction is currently expected to be southwest. This wind flow appears favorable to produce waves up to 25 feet near St. Paul harbor. Conditions are expected to improve by late Tuesday afternoon as the low lifts northward. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around or damaged by the wind. Prepare for the possibility of widespread power outages. Use caution if you must drive. && $$ AKZ187-211800- /O.CON.PAFC.HW.W.0005.230221T0900Z-230221T1800Z/ Central Aleutians- Including the city of Atka and Adak 354 PM AKST Mon Feb 20 2023 ...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 AM AKST TUESDAY... * WHAT...Southwest winds 40 to 60 mph with gusts up to 75 mph expected. * WHERE...Central Aleutians. * WHEN...From midnight tonight to 9 AM AKST Tuesday. * IMPACTS...High winds may move loose debris, damage property, and cause power outages. Travel will be difficult. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...A strong low pressure system continues to lift out of the North Pacific and into the western Bering. Strong west-southwest winds are expected around 3 AM AKST for the cities of Adak and Atka. Conditions are expected to improve by Tuesday afternoon as the low lifts northward. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around or damaged by the wind. Prepare for the possibility of widespread power outages. Use caution if you must drive. && $$ For more information from the National Weather Service visit https://weather.gov/afc
296 WWAK72 PAFC 211304 NPWALU URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Anchorage AK 404 AM AKST Tue Feb 21 2023 AKZ187-211800- /O.CON.PAFC.HW.W.0005.000000T0000Z-230221T1800Z/ Central Aleutians- Including the city of Atka and Adak 404 AM AKST Tue Feb 21 2023 ...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM AKST THIS MORNING... * WHAT...Southwest winds 40 to 60 mph with gusts up to 80 mph. * WHERE...Central Aleutians. * WHEN...Until 9 AM AKST this morning. * IMPACTS...High winds may move loose debris, damage property, and cause power outages. Travel will be difficult. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around or damaged by the wind. Prepare for the possibility of widespread power outages. Use caution if you must drive. && $$ AKZ195-220300- /O.CON.PAFC.HW.W.0005.000000T0000Z-230222T0300Z/ Pribilof Islands- Including the city of Saint Paul 404 AM AKST Tue Feb 21 2023 ...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM AKST THIS EVENING... * WHAT...South winds 45 to 55 mph with gusts up to 75 mph. * WHERE...Pribilof Islands. * WHEN...Until 6 PM AKST this evening. * IMPACTS...High winds may move loose debris, damage property, and cause power outages. Travel will be difficult. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Southwesterly winds may produce waves up to 25 ft near St. Paul Harbor. Peak winds are expected around noon today. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around or damaged by the wind. Prepare for the possibility of widespread power outages. Use caution if you must drive. && $$ For more information from the National Weather Service visit https://weather.gov/afc
726 WWAK72 PAFC 212348 NPWALU URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Anchorage AK 248 PM AKST Tue Feb 21 2023 AKZ195-220100- /O.CAN.PAFC.HW.W.0005.000000T0000Z-230222T0300Z/ Pribilof Islands- Including the city of Saint Paul 248 PM AKST Tue Feb 21 2023 ...HIGH WIND WARNING IS CANCELLED... Gusty winds will continue but are no longer expected to reach high wind warning criteria. Southerly winds 25 to 35 mph are expected to continue through Wednesday night. $$ For more information from the National Weather Service visit https://weather.gov/afc
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this high wind 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 high wind warning went out at Feb 19, 4:40 PM AKST, 12 hours 7 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 19, 4:40 PM AKST, 12 hours 7 minutes before
Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Anchorage AK 440 PM AKST Sun Feb 19 2023 .ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS... Blocked ridge over the Pacific has nudged up into Alaska this morning. Areas of fog and low stratus appeared in different locations across the mainland, some producing enough moisture for snow flurries and freezing drizzle. Fog is also observed in the Middle Kuskokwim and the Kuskokwim Delta. A fast moving shortwave is riding up along the western side of the ridge. This is partially tethered to the shortwave spinning off a western Bering low. While the low is skirting that western edge of the Bering, that shortwave is moving snowfall through St Paul this morning. It appears to be a brief burst of precipitation. Cold convective cumulus trails behind though. && .MODEL DISCUSSION... Consensus on the synoptic level is good. Resolving the embedded shortwaves, especially across the Bering Sea and for features that are riding along the western periphery of the ridge over the Pacific are more uncertain. Some of the challenges for the short term are deciphering the potential for fog for various locations across the Mainland and wind, in terms of magnitude and impacts over the next few days. As warmer air continues to advect under southwesterly flow into Alaska, the transition in precipitation type could pose challenge in some areas over Southwestern Alaska for the forecast this week. && .AVIATION... PANC...Improvement to VFR is anticipated this afternoon. Reduction to MVFR ceilings and visibility is likely to return after dark and last until at least sunrise. IFR and LIFR is possible in the morning. Light winds are likely to prevail. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3)... Lingering weak low pressure exists over the Gulf of Alaska this evening. A North Pacific low tracks south of the Gulf towards the Southeast Panhandle through Monday. Winds across the Gulf of Alaska will increase to widespread small craft, with areas of gale force winds being pulled through some of the gaps, including Resurrection Bay, Passage Canal/Prince William Sound, and out of the Copper River Delta, on Monday. Winds will also be increased through the Barren Islands. A building ridge will keep cool and dry conditions across Southcentral over the next couple of days. Cold air advection will drift out of the Interior down into Southcentral. Anticipate winds to ramp in areas along the coast, mainly Seward, Valdez/Thompson Pass, and Whitter/Portage through Monday night. Low clouds and periods of fog are likely again overnight tonight and into Monday morning along the western Kenai Peninsula, spilling north across western Anchorage into the Mat-Su Valley. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA (Days 1 through 3: Tonight through Wednesday)... Quieter weather is in store heading into early next week as a ridge of high pressure from the eastern Bering Sea moves overhead. Low stratus and fog trapped underneath the ridge returns overnight tonight, with conditions expected to improve Monday morning. Meanwhile, a couple of shortwaves waves will briefly bring light snow showers to the Kuskokwim Delta and northern Bristol Bay, while a snow/rain mix to the Alaska Peninsula on Monday. For the rest of the workweek, an active weather pattern will get underway as a series of storm systems impacts western Alaska. The first system is associated with a North Pacific low approaching from the Bering into the Chukchi Sea early Tuesday. Temperatures are expected to climb into the mid to upper 30s as far north as the Lower Kuskokwim Valley as moderate southerly winds move into the region. Most of the precipitation will stay to the north, but the Kuskokwim Delta and Bristol Bay will initially start out as snow in the morning. By mid-afternoon, warmer temperatures at the surface will help transition to a wintry mix and then all rain for the rest of the region. However, there is some uncertainty about precipitation type timing and transition. After this system pushes northward, the next warmer system arrives shortly afterwards on Wednesday. Precipitation type is likely to be predominately be rain as the atmospheric column of air warms above the surface for the entire forecast area. Stay tuned for further updates. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days 1 to 3: Tonight through Wednesday)... A trough extending from the Kamchatka Peninsula to the western Bering Sea will remain anchored through Monday. A low pressure system pushes northward tonight, bringing precipitation and gales along the Aleutian Chain and Pribilof Islands. A strong North Pacific low is expected to approach the western Aleutians early Monday. The leading frontal boundary will overspread the western Aleutians by Monday afternoon, bringing gusty southerly winds, elevated seas, and heavy precipitation. There is moderate to high confidence for widespread gale force winds, with localized areas of storm force winds between Monday and Tuesday morning. As low lifts into the western Bering Sea, the strongest core of the winds may shift to the west-southwest, thereby producing a terrain channeling effect for the central Aleutians (including Adak and Atka). There is also the potential for gusts to reach hurricane force during that timeframe as some colder air wraps around the low. A High Wind Watch is in effect for the region from late Monday night to Tuesday morning. Precipitation will initially start as snow followed by moderate to heavy rain as warmer air surges across the Aleutians. As the low lifts northward on Tuesday, the Pribilofs can see increasing southerly gales to storm force winds and precipitation as well. Conditions are expected to improve briefly on Tuesday followed by a second system arriving midweek. There remains some uncertainty with the timing and track with the second system, so stay tuned for further updates. && .LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7: Thursday through Sunday)... A more marked pattern change towards much more mild and wetter conditions earlier in the week will be nearing it's end by the beginning of the outlook period on Thursday. By this time, models are in reasonable agreement that the strong longwave ridge axis extending into Mainland Alaska will begin to flatten out and begin to retreat southeast as successive shortwaves ride over the ridge from the Bering and help break down the ridge in place. This should shift the deep fetch of southwest flow and the associated moisture tap south towards the Gulf as a briefly more zonal pattern takes shape through Friday, with an effective cold front progressing across the Southwest into Southcentral, changing any falling precipitation solidly over to snow. A marked cooling and drying trend should continue into the weekend as a broad upper trough shifts from the eastern Bering towards the Gulf and as renewed longwave ridging develops upstream across the Bering and Aleutians. Much of the region out west will remain fairly active, however, with a series of lows likely to track into the central/western Bering around the periphery of the flat ridge gradually amplifying with time. The latest global model solutions are hinting at perhaps another much larger and stronger low, potentially storm force, entering the western Bering late on Sunday. && .AFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...High Wind Watch 187. MARINE...Gale 130-132 155 165 172 177 180-185. Storm 170 173-176 179. FIRE WEATHER...NONE. && SYNOPSIS AND MODEL DISCUSSION...VR SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...KM SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS...MF LONG TERM...AS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Anchorage, AK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 3:20 PM AKST | Gale Warning | AFC | 24 hr | |
| Feb 19, 3:20 PM AKST | Small Craft Advisory | AFC | 13 hr | |
| Feb 19, 3:22 PM AKST | Gale Warning | AFC | 13 hr | |
| Feb 19, 3:22 PM AKST | Storm Warning | AFC | 48 hr | |
| Feb 19, 3:23 PM AKST | Gale Warning | AFC | 13 hr | |
| Feb 19, 3:23 PM AKST | Storm Warning | AFC | 13 hr | |
| Feb 19, 3:48 PM AKST | High Wind Watch | AFC | 13 hr | |
| Feb 20, 3:54 AM AKST | Gale Warning | AFC | 11 hr | |
| Feb 20, 3:54 AM AKST | Small Craft Advisory | AFC | 24 hr | |
| Feb 20, 4:11 AM AKST | Gale Warning | AFC | 24 hr | |
| Feb 20, 4:11 AM AKST | Gale Warning | AFC | 3 days | |
| Feb 20, 4:11 AM AKST | Small Craft Advisory | AFC | 3 days | |
| Feb 20, 4:11 AM AKST | Storm Warning | AFC | 35 hr | |
| Feb 20, 4:11 AM AKST | Storm Warning | AFC | 35 hr | |
| Feb 20, 4:39 AM AKST | High Wind Watch | AFC | 11 hr |
Nearby
High Wind Warnings in Alaska, 2023Every high wind warning in 2023
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text.