High Wind in Alaska, February 23 to 25, 1997

Name: High Wind in Alaska, February 23 to 25, 1997
Start: 1997-02-23T06:00
End: 1997-02-25T06:00
Location: Alaska

February 23 to 25, 1997 · NWS AFC · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

weakening to 964mbs 90 miles northeast of Shemya, along the extreme western Aleutian Chain. Brisk southerly winds, from 40 to locally 55 mph, were observed in a tight semicircle around the southeast side of the low.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1,000
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.

A strong, frontal 956mb low just south of Adak at 3pm Sunday curved northwest into the southwest Bering Sea...weakening to 964mbs 90 miles northeast of Shemya, along the extreme western Aleutian Chain. Brisk southerly winds, from 40 to locally 55 mph, were observed in a tight semicircle around the southeast side of the low. Stronger southeasterly winds, however, preceded the front...which elongated east and northeast...extending in an arc through Saint George Island and Cape Sarichef at 3am Monday. The front began weakening thereafter, extending in a long arc through the northern Bering Sea to Nunivak Island, across Port Heiden to 300 miles south of Kodiak 3pm Monday and in a long arc from the Seward Peninsula through the central Kenai Peninsula at 3am Tuesday. Wind gusts reached 86 mph at Cold Bay at 3:36am Monday, breaking the old February record of 83 mph set back in 1989. Sustained winds at Cold Bay were above 58 mph from 2:20am to 5:30 am Monday. Wind gusts reached at least 47 mph along the upper Anchorage hillside between 11pm and midnight Monday.

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Salisbury Sound to Cape Fairweather Coastal Area

When: February 23, 6:00 AM AST to 11:00 PM AST
Where: Salisbury Sound to Cape Fairweather Coastal Area forecast zone
Measured: 48 kt (55 mph)

High Wind, Eastern Chichagof Island

When: February 24, 12:00 AM AST to 6:00 PM AST
Where: Eastern Chichagof Island forecast zone
Measured: 75 kt (86 mph)
Property damage: $1,000

High Wind, Taiya Inlet and Klondike Highway

When: February 24, 12:00 PM AST to February 25, 6:00 AM AST
Where: Taiya Inlet and Klondike Highway forecast zone
Measured: 41 kt (47 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 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 1997

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: 5588742, 5588743, 5588746.