High Wind, Lower Kobuk Valley-Northern Seward Peninsula
- When
- October 23, 7:15 PM AST to October 24, 11:35 AM AST
- Where
- Lower Kobuk Valley-Northern Seward Peninsula forecast zone
- Measured
- 57 kt (66 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, October 23 to 25, 1998
A strong weather front moved north over Alaska from the gulf of Alaska bringing brief strong winds to the Alaska Range (Healy: 35 mph sustained, gust 63 mph), a period of strong winds and blizzard conditions to the Arctic Slope Coastal (Barter Island: 45 mph sustained, gust 65 mph; all reporting stations carried Blizzard conditions excpet Point Lay) and strong winds to far northwetern Zone 3…
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 5
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 AFG wrote it up.
A strong weather front moved north over Alaska from the gulf of Alaska bringing brief strong winds to the Alaska Range (Healy: 35 mph sustained, gust 63 mph), a period of strong winds and blizzard conditions to the Arctic Slope Coastal (Barter Island: 45 mph sustained, gust 65 mph; all reporting stations carried Blizzard conditions excpet Point Lay) and strong winds to far northwetern Zone 3 (Point Hope: 56 mph sustained, gust 66 mph) and Zone 2 (Colville Village Co-Op Observer: gust to 69 mph).
Event by event
4 high wind, 1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Arctic Slope Coastal
- When
- October 23, 11:35 PM AST to October 25, 1:53 AM AST
- Where
- Arctic Slope Coastal forecast zone
- Measured
- 56 kt (64 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Blizzard, Arctic Slope Coastal
- When
- October 24, 10:30 AM AST to October 25, 2:26 AM AST
- Where
- Arctic Slope Coastal forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
High Wind, Tanana Valley
- When
- October 24, 12:45 PM AST to 3:00 PM AST
- Where
- Tanana Valley forecast zone
- Measured
- 55 kt (63 mph)
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
High Wind, North Slopes of Brooks Range
- When
- October 24, 6:00 PM AST to 11:00 PM AST
- Where
- North Slopes of Brooks Range forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
- Blizzard
- Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
More
Every storm in Alaska in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, October 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: 5667322, 5667320, 5667319, 5667321, 5667323.