High Wind in Alaska, August 17, 1996

Name: High Wind in Alaska, August 17, 1996
Start: 1996-08-17T00:00
End: 1996-08-17T23:59
Location: Alaska

August 17, 1996 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

extending through Adak. moving by Saint Paul Island 7am Saturday with a frontal system arcing east and south from the center.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS AFC wrote it up.

A moderate 995mb low drifted northeast to Shemya (along the western Aleutians) at 4pm Thursday with a moderate frontal system north and east of the center...extending through Adak. A frontal low developed north of Adak early Friday...moving by Saint Paul Island 7am Saturday with a frontal system arcing east and south from the center. Saturday morning...the front was located about 120 miles west of Cold Bay...causing wind gusts of 49 mph at the Cold Bay airport.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Eastern Chichagof Island

When: August 17, 12:00 AM AST to 11:59 PM AST
Where: Eastern Chichagof Island forecast zone
Measured: 43 kt (49 mph)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 1996 Every state in 1996 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, August 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5560961.