High Wind in Alaska, December 15 to 18, 1998

Strong, arctic northerly 'outflow' winds preceded an increasingly strong high that moved across the state from west to east. At 9am Tuesday, the center was 1024mbs about 60 miles northwest of Bethel. By 9pm Wednesday, the center was a very respectable 1049mb center near Tanana and by 3am Friday an intense 1072mb center near Mayo, Canada. Wind gusts reached 63 mph at Big River Lakes on the west side of Cook Inlet, 55 mph at the Kodiak airport, 59 mph at the Valdez airport, 45 mph at Seward and 52 mph at Whittier. On the 'back side' of the high, brisk southeast wind gusts reached 54 mph at Glen Alps, located at about the 2200 foot level of the Anchorage Hillside. Wind chills in excess of minus 45 were calculated in the Susitna Valley and just west of Cook Inlet at the Big River Lakes reporting site. In addition to the strong northerly winds, surface pressures reached values above 31.00 inches of mercury (which caused several observational problems, barometers which were "off the charts" and other aviation related questions). These high pressure readings had not been a weather problem since 1989, when flights were actually grounded because altimeters could not be set and minimal amounts of daylight caused many flights to operate under IFR conditions.