High Wind in Alaska, March 11 to 12, 1997

Name: High Wind in Alaska, March 11 to 12, 1997
Start: 1997-03-11T00:00
End: 1997-03-12T12:00
Location: Alaska

March 11 to 12, 1997 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

as very strong high pressure built into the northcentral interior. Brisk northeasterly winds were observed across many areas of southcentral Alaska Monday and Tuesday.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Cold arctic air pushed southward across southcentral Alaska Monday and Tuesday...as very strong high pressure built into the northcentral interior. Brisk northeasterly winds were observed across many areas of southcentral Alaska Monday and Tuesday. Wind gusts reached at least 69 mph just west of Kenai in Cook Inlet (reported by the "Northern Lights"...a vessel owned by TOTE shipping). Palmer recorded wind gusts of 60 mph at 6 minutes after midnight early Wednesday...causing the ASOS to report " snow and clear skies" (due to snow blowing over the precipitation sensor). Gusts of 73 mph were recorded at the Valdez airport at 2:38 am Wednesday. At least one tree blew into a house around Anchorage, where gusts reached at least 50 mph (reported at Anchorage International airport) at 5:54 pm Tuesday).

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Cook Inlet-Susitna Valley

When: March 11, 12:00 AM AST to March 12, 12:00 PM AST
Where: Cook Inlet-Susitna Valley forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)

High Wind, Central Gulf Coast

When: March 12, 2:37 AM AST to 2:39 AM AST
Where: Central Gulf Coast forecast zone
Measured: 63 kt (72 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, March 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: 5588753, 5588754.