High Wind in Alaska, April 1, 1997

An intensifying low moved northward through the Gulf of Alaska to just south of Resurrection Bay at 3pm Tuesday. Central pressures were estimated close to 975 mbs early Tuesday afternoon. The low began to rapidly weaken and recurve eastward Wednesday. Strong east to northeast winds preceded the low Tuesday morning...reported as high as 62 mph at Middleton Island between 5am and 6am Tuesday and 63 mph very close to Cape Saint Elias between 6 and 8am Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon...increasingly strong northwest winds on the back side of the low reached 86 mph in Kukak Bay (near Afognak Island just north of Kodiak Island) as reported by the Tug "Solution". In Kodiak, winds reached 51 mph on the 1st...uprooting some trees and blowing over a few sheds....and 48 mph on the 2nd, resulting in several boats torn loose from their moorings. Earlier the "Agnes Foss" and "Cavalier" just southeast of the Alaska Peninsula reported wind gusts up to 69 mph. Other reported strong winds were 46 mph at noon at Kenai, 45 mph gusts at Palmer between 2 and 3pm, 51 mph gusts at Kodiak between 9 and 10 pm and 43 mph gusts at Valdez between 8 and 9pm.