High Wind in Alaska, December 3 to 6, 1996

Name: High Wind in Alaska, December 3 to 6, 1996
Start: 1996-12-03T00:00
End: 1996-12-06T23:59
Location: Alaska

December 3 to 6, 1996 · NWS AFC · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

centering 300 miles south of King Salmon at 9 am Tuesday. The front elongated east and northeast across the Gulf of Alaska Tuesday.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

An intensifying frontal low, moving northeast across the north Pacific, deepened to 949 mbs...centering 300 miles south of King Salmon at 9 am Tuesday. The front elongated east and northeast across the Gulf of Alaska Tuesday. The low moved to 250 miles south of Seward at 9 pm Tuesday as a strong 945mb center. Thereafter, the center began an east northeast drift across the Gulf of Alaska...slowly weakening to a 970 mb center near Sitka at 9 am Thursday. Easterly wind gusts reached 63 mph at Middleton Island Tuesday in advance of the front. Gusts from 50 to 60 mph were reported near Cordova and at several buoys in and near Prince William Sound Tuesday. Also...just in advance of the front.. northerly winds reached a peak of 64 mph at Kodiak on Tuesday. On the back side of the low...strong northwest winds gusted to 60 mph at Kodiak on Friday. Westerly wind gusts were above 40 mph at Cold Bay for 8 consecutive days from Wednesday through the next Thursday...reaching 61 mph on Friday.

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Western Alaska Peninsula

When: December 3, 12:00 AM AST to December 6, 11:59 PM AST
Where: Western Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)

High Wind, Central Gulf Coast

When: December 3, 12:00 AM AST to 11:59 PM AST
Where: Central Gulf Coast forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)

High Wind, Western Alaska Peninsula

When: December 6, 12:00 AM AST to 11:59 PM AST
Where: Western Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 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, 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: 5579236, 5579238, 5579237.