Funnel Cloud in Alaska, August 28, 2002

Name: Funnel Cloud in Alaska, August 28, 2002
Start: 2002-08-28T15:00
End: 2002-08-28T15:15
Location: Alaska

August 28, 2002 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

From the Anchorage Daily News, August 29th: "A funnel cloud dropped from the sky several miles north of Wonder Lake in Denali National Park. " Note that the actual time was 4pm ADT, according to the National Park Service.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

From the Anchorage Daily News, August 29th: "A funnel cloud dropped from the sky several miles north of Wonder Lake in Denali National Park. About a dozen people watched from near the lake as the cloud formed, descended nearly to the ground, then disappeared as pea-sized hail began to fall." Note that the actual time was 4pm ADT, according to the National Park Service.

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 28, 1:30 PM AST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 28, 1:30 PM AST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM ADT WED AUG 28 2002

LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER WESTERN ALASKA WILL PERSIST INTO THE WEEKEND
AND THEN MOVE EAST AS A RIDGE ALOFT BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST. SHORT
WAVES MOVING THROUGH TROUGH WILL BRING PERIODS OF RAIN OR SHOWERS
TO MOST AREAS...WITH A COOLING TREND ON THE WEEKEND AND A WARMING
TREND NEXT WEEK.

AVN AND NGM INITIALIZE BETTER ON INSTABILITY IN EASTERN INTERIOR
BETTER THAN ETA. ADDITIONALLY...AVN MAINTAINS WESTERN ALASKA COLD FRONT
LONGER AND PUSHES IT FURTHER EAST THAN ETA. SATELLITE PICTURE AND
SURFACE ANALYSIS FAVOR A STRONGER COLD FRONT PER THE AVN...BUT SURFACE
RIDGE BUILDING OVER SOUTHEAST ALASKA THURSDAY SHOULD CAUSE COLD FRONT
TO DISSIPATE IN THE SOUTHEAST INTERIOR THURSDAY. FOR THIS REASON WILL
USE THE AVN FRONTAL POSITION THROUGH 24 HRS AND THEN DISSIPATE IT
THU PM AS SHOWN BY THE ETA.

MODELS ALSO DIFFER ON EASTWARD MOVING LOW NORTH OF THE ARCTIC COAST
ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. FAVOR AVN ON THIS FEATURE AGAIN AS IT
MAINTAINS DEPTH OF LOW LONGER THAN ETA. THIS APPEARS REASONABLE DUE
TO STRENGTH OF SHORT WAVE ALOFT.

A COLD FRONT FROM PAKU-PASK-PASL WILL MOVE TO 50 WEST PABA-PAIN
4AM THU...AND DISSIPATE CYOC-PAIN 4PM WED. SUPPORTING SHORT WAVE
ALONG THE WEST COAST WILL MOVE TO PABR-PAMC 4AM THU..AND TO PABA-PAMC
4PM THU. WILL SEE RAIN ALONG FRONT FROM SOUTH SLOPES OF BROOKS RANGE
NORTH...AND SHOWERS ALONG FRONT TO THE SOUTH. SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL
OCCUR WEST OF THE FRONT DIMINISHING ALONG THE TROUGH ALOFT.
WITH COLD AIR TRAILING FRONT...ONLY EXPECT SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS
IN BROOKS RANGE WEST OF FRONT AND NO ACCUMULATION.

SHALLOW INSTABILITY IN THE SOUTHEAST INTERIOR THAT CAUSED ISOLATED
SHOWERS THIS MORNING WILL PERSIST EAST OF THE COLD FRONT ALONG
WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS.

AN OCCLUDED FRONT IN THE WESTERN GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE ALONG THE
ALASKA RANGE FRIDAY...AND DISSIPATE FROM PAMC-CYOC SATURDAY. THIS WILL
CAUSE WEAK GAP FLOW THROUGH ALASKA RANGE AHEAD AND BEHIND FRONT. EXPECT
LIGHT RAIN ALONG FRONT...EXCEPT HEAVY WITH FRONT SOUTH SIDE OF
ALASKA RANGE.

A DEEPENING LOW WEST OF WRANGEL ISLAND WILL MOVE TO NEAR WRANGEL
ISLAND AS A 987 LOW 4AM THU...AND THEN CONTINUE NORTHEAST...REMAINING
WELL NORTH OF THE ARCTIC COAST. AN ASSOCIATED WARM FRONT WILL MOVE
ACROSS THE WESTERN ARCTIC THURSDAY BRINGING SOUTHWEST WINDS 30 KT AND
SOME RAIN AND FOG. WILL SE HIGH WIND GUSTS AT PALU THU.
A TRAILING COLD FRONT WILL MOVE EAST TO LIE ALONG THE NORTH SLOPE
FRIDAY...AND THEN DISSIPATE THROUGH SATURDAY. THERE WILL BE FLURRIES
AND FOG ALONG THE COLD FRONT.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING ZONES 201.
MARINE...SCA 10B AND 11A.

JB AUG 02

Event by event

1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Denali

When: August 28, 3:00 PM AST to 3:15 PM AST
Where: Denali County, Denali N.P.
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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: 5313225.