High Wind in Alaska, August 14 to 15, 2002

Name: High Wind in Alaska, August 14 to 15, 2002
Start: 2002-08-14T15:05
End: 2002-08-15T21:53
Location: Alaska

August 14 to 15, 2002 · NWS AFG · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Zone 204Barter Island AWOS gust to 53 mph.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 frontal system from a large 979mb low located over the Arctic Ocean moved east across the Arctic Ocean, bringing strong winds across the Arctic Coast from Cape Lisburne to Barter Island.High Winds were reported at:Zone 201Cape Lisburne AWOS gust to 56 mph.Wainwright ASOS gust to 60 mph.Zone 202Barrow ASOS gust to 48 mph.Zone 203Kuparuk gust to 53 mph.Nuiqsut ASOS gust to 50 mph.Zone 204Barter Island AWOS gust to 53 mph.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 14, 1:30 PM AST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 14, 1:30 PM AST, 1 hour 35 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM ADT WED AUG 14 2002

BIG FORECAST CONCERN CONTINUES TO BE HIGH WINDS AND HEAVY SURF FOR
NORTHWEST ALASKA DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS OR SO.

WILL AGAIN GO WITH AVN MODEL BASED ON GOOD RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY OF AVN
FORECASTS AT SURFACE AND ALOFT...AND THE FACT THAT THE RESPONSIBLE
WEATHER FEATURE IS COMING FROM REGIONS BEYOND THE DOMAIN OF THE ETA AND
NGM. HOWEVER...12Z SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS THE SURFACE LOW 5MB DEEPER
THAN AVN SAYS. IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE THAT NUMERICAL MODELS COULD HAVE
ERRORS DUE TO THE ABSENCE OF UPPER AIR DATA OVER THE ARCTIC OCEAN. FOR
NOW WILL USE AVN TRACK OF SURFACE LOW...BUT WILL DEEPEN THE FEATURE BY A
FEW MBS.

BY 4PM WEDNESDAY EXPECT 981MB LOW AT 76N 170W...4AM THURSDAY 976MB AT
77N 152W...4PM THURSDAY 979MB AT 77N 145W...4PM FRIDAY 986MB AT
75N 140W. THIS PROGNOSIS REPRESENTS A MODERATE DEEPENING OF PRESSURE
COMPARED TO OUR THINKING YESTERDAY...BUT RETAINS A ZONAL TRACK WELL
NORTH OF THE ARCTIC COAST. THE HEALTHY DISTANCE BETWEEN THE COAST AND
THE LOW CENTER IS A CONTINUING ARGUMENT AGAINST ISSUING A COASTAL FLOOD
WARNING IN ZONES 201 AND 202. ALSO THE WARM SECTOR OF THE LOW WILL TAP
INTO AMPLE POOL OF HOT LOW-LEVEL AIR NOW OVER THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST. BY
THE TIME SIGNIFICANTLY COOLER 850MB TEMPERATURES MOVE INTO ZONES 201 AND
202 ON BACK SIDE OF THE LOW THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY...THE WIND PATTERN
WILL HAVE DIMINISHED CONSIDERABLY. FOR A GOOD COASTAL FLOOD CASE WOULD
ALSO LIKE TO SEE A MUCH DEEPER CENTRAL PRESSURE FOR THE LOW...THERE
DOESNT SEEM TO BE ENOUGH BAROCLINICITY AVAILABLE IN AUGUST TO SPIN UP A
REALLY DEEP SYNOPTIC-SCALE LOW. STILL...WITH A GOOD WIND FETCH OVER ICE
FREE SEAS AND THE ECKMAN SPIRAL PUSHING WATER TOWARD SHORE FROM LISBURNE
TO BARROW...THE HEAVY SURF ADVISORY IS STILL REASONABLE. VILLAGES MOST
VULNERABLE TO SHORELINE EROSION WILL BE BARROW AND WAINWRIGHT. EXPECT
MAXIMUM THREAT OVERNIGHT THROUGH MID-DAY THURSDAY. ETA STORM SURGE MODEL
PROMISES A PEAK AROUND MIDNIGHT TONIGHT AT PABR.

COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH ARCTIC LOW WILL CROSS BROOKS RANGE THURSDAY
AND BY FRIDAY IS PROGGED TO STAGNATE ALONG A LINE FROM
PATC-PAUN-PAHV-PAOR FRIDAY. RAIN LIKELY WITH THE FRONT...THEN SHOWERS
NORTH OF THE FRONT. GUSTY WINDS WILL ALSO BE AN INCREASING FACTOR IN THE
INTERIOR FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS...ESPECIALLY FOR THE USUAL PLACES LIKE
EAGLE SUMMIT THAT GET STRONG WESTERLY WINDS.

WEST COAST...WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONES 207-209 INTO THURSDAY...BUT NO
COASTAL FLOODING EXPECTED FOR ZONE 207 DUE TO UNFAVORABLE ORIENTATION OF
FETCH AND WIND DIRECTION. RAIN LIKELY WITH ARRIVAL OF COLD FRONT FROM
THE NORTH OVER NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.

COORDINATION...THANKS WSO PABR FOR DISSEMINATION AND CONTINUED
ASSISTANCE DURING THIS EVENT.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING TONIGHT 201...202.
         HEAVY SURF ADVISORY TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING 201...202.
         WIND ADVISORY TONIGHT AND THURSDAY 203>209.
MARINE...GALE WARNING AREA 10B...11A...11B.
         SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY AREAS 9B...10A.

ES AUG 02

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 14, 3:00 PM AST, 5 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
400 PM ADT WED AUG 14 2002

AKZ201-202-151300-
WESTERN ARCTIC COAST
  INCLUDING WAINWRIGHT - ATQASUK - POINT LAY
NORTHERN ARCTIC COAST
  INCLUDING BARROW
400 PM ADT WED AUG 14 2002

...HEAVY SURF ADVISORY TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM
   CAPE LISBURNE TO POINT BARROW...

SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 30 TO 60 MPH TONIGHT...WITH THE
STRONGEST WINDS NEAR CAPE LISBURNE. THE WINDS WILL TURN WEST AND
DIMINISH TO 20 TO 40 MPH THURSDAY. HEAVY SEAS AND LOCAL BEACH EROSION
CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST FROM CAPE LISBURNE TO POINT
BARROW TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING. SEA LEVEL MAY RISE UP TO TWO FEET
ABOVE NORMAL AS THE STRONG WINDS PUSH WAVES ONTO THE COASTLINE. THE
THREAT OF HEAVY SURF WILL DIMINISH BY NOON THURSDAY AS THE WINDS AND
WAVE BEGIN TO SUBSIDE.

WIDESPREAD COASTAL FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED. HOWEVER...SOME BEACH
EROSION IS POSSIBLE. RESIDENTS SHOULD TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT ANY
BELONGINGS THAT COULD BE DAMAGED BY HEAVY SURF ALONG THE COAST.

THE NEXT SCHEDULED STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AT 500 AM THURSDAY.

ES AUG 02

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Western Arctic Coast

When: August 14, 3:05 PM AST to August 15, 9:53 PM AST
Where: Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Northern Arctic Coast

When: August 14, 9:52 PM AST to 9:53 PM AST
Where: Northern Arctic Coast forecast zone
Measured: 42 kt (48 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: August 15, 2:53 AM AST to 5:51 AM AST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Measured: 46 kt (53 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast

When: August 15, 9:15 AM AST
Where: Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Measured: 46 kt (53 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, August 2002

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: 5313135, 5313136, 5313137, 5313138.