High Wind in Alaska, July 31, 1996

Name: High Wind in Alaska, July 31, 1996
Start: 1996-07-31T00:00
End: 1996-07-31T23:59
Location: Alaska

July 31, 1996 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

moving northeastward throught the Bering Sea to just south of the Gulf of Anadyr late Wednesday as a 978mb center. Unofficial ship reports indicated wind gusts in excess of 40 mph in advance of the front.

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 985mb low developed near the Komandorskiye Islands of Russia early Tuesday, July 30...moving northeastward throught the Bering Sea to just south of the Gulf of Anadyr late Wednesday as a 978mb center. The front associated with this low extended from the low into the extreme western Aleutians early Tuesday...making landfall near Nome, Bethel and Cold Bay late Wednesday, July 31.Unofficial ship reports indicated wind gusts in excess of 40 mph in advance of the front. On Wednesday, wind gusts reached 54 mph at Cold Bay and 41 mph at Bethel.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Eastern Chichagof Island

When: July 31, 12:00 AM AST to 11:59 PM AST
Where: Eastern Chichagof Island forecast zone
Measured: 47 kt (54 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, July 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: 5550291.