Alaska, 1996

High Wind in Alaska, December 20, 1996

December 20, 1996 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Very strong cold air drainage winds from a 1050 mb high near Mayo, Canada produced very strong wind gusts up to 78 mph at Valdez.

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.

Very strong cold air drainage winds from a 1050 mb high near Mayo, Canada produced very strong wind gusts up to 78 mph at Valdez.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Haines Borough and Lynn Canal

When
December 20, 9:47 PM AST
Where
Haines Borough and Lynn Canal forecast zone
Measured
68 kt (78 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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 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: 5579254.