High Wind in Alaska, December 27 to 30, 1998

Strong northeast wind, again set off by cold air moving into the area from the east and northeast behind a vigorous cold front, began across the Matanuska/Susitna Valley just after noon Sunday...finally diminishing Tuesday morning. Wind gusts reached 69 mph at a recently installed mesonet site...more into the core of the high winds. Gusts reached 53 mph at Wasilla and 61 mph at the Palmer airport early Monday morning. Damage was relatively minor...with a trampoline in a ditch, drifted snow over parked cars and several heavy signs removed from their positions. At the Tony chevrolet-Buick dealership, Greg Bailey reported "Every year at this time, you've got to dig them out"...referring to cars parked outside. "When the wind starts blowing and there's snow on the ground, it gets up underneath the cars and just piles up to where they won't move. It's really hard snow when it's windblown-kind of like concrete." Bailey said the problem grew so bad that he and his co-workers parked trucks and cars in back of the dealership.A few miles west, a metal frame was all that was left of the menu board by the drive-through lane at Wendy's Old-Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant. Customers had to rely on their memories or on a menu inside when ordering their meals. Anne Nichols, the restaurant's manager said "The wind comes ripping through this alley thing where our drive-through is and it gets everything."Additionally, brisk north winds west of the Parks Highway, combined with the 'Matanuska' northeasterly winds and spread down across central Cook Inlet. The M/V "Heritage Service" recorded wind gusts of 46 mph and freezing spray. Gusts reached 30 mph from the north across west Anchorage...and a brief easterly shot of wind produced 41 mph gusts around Glen Alps...at around the 2200 ft level of the surrounding mountains. Easterly wind gusts of 43 mph were recorded at the Portage Glacier ASOS at just before 2am Tuesday morning and again between midnight and 1am Wednesday.Wind chills dipped down below 30 below in some areas as a result of the wind.