High Wind in Alaska, May 16 to 19, 1998

Name: High Wind in Alaska, May 16 to 19, 1998
Start: 1998-05-16T00:00
End: 1998-05-19T12:00
Location: Alaska

May 16 to 19, 1998 · NWS AFC · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

reaching at least a 968mbs around the Pribilofs early Sunday. The center then looped slowly in the central Bering before weakening Monday.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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.

An intensifying low moved across the central Aleutians late Saturday afternoon...reaching at least a 968mbs around the Pribilofs early Sunday. The center then looped slowly in the central Bering before weakening Monday. The associated front elongated out from the low into an arc from Norton Sound to Kodiak Island late Sunday...then from a frontal low east of Kodiak into the southeastern Gulf of Alaska late Monday afternoon. The front finally weakened in an arc across the Copper River Basin to near Cape Fairweather late Tuesday morning. Brisk southeast winds were observed in advance of the front, gusting up to 60 mph. Additionally, on the back side of the low, brisk westerly winds again raked the central and western Aleutians.

Event by event

6 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Aleutian Islands

When: May 16, 12:00 AM AST to May 17, 6:00 PM AST
Where: Aleutian Islands forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)

High Wind, Western Alaska Peninsula

When: May 16, 12:00 PM AST to May 17, 12:00 PM AST
Where: Western Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)

High Wind, Kuskokwim Delta

When: May 16, 6:00 PM AST to May 17, 12:00 PM AST
Where: Kuskokwim Delta forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)

High Wind, Pribilof Islands

When: May 16, 6:00 PM AST to May 17, 6:00 AM AST
Where: Pribilof Islands forecast zone
Measured: 47 kt (54 mph)

High Wind, Cook Inlet

When: May 17, 6:00 PM AST to May 19, 6:00 AM AST
Where: Cook Inlet forecast zone
Measured: 48 kt (55 mph)

High Wind, Central Gulf Coast

When: May 18, 12:00 AM AST to May 19, 12:00 PM AST
Where: Central Gulf Coast forecast zone
Measured: 48 kt (55 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 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, May 1998

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: 5676576, 5676577, 5676578, 5676579, 5676580, 5676581.