High Wind in Alaska, December 22, 2002

Name: High Wind in Alaska, December 22, 2002
Start: 2002-12-22T03:15
End: 2002-12-22T12:00
Location: Alaska

December 22, 2002 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A strong low south of the Aleutians moved toward Kodiak Island over the weekend. The storm reached an intensity of 961 mbs at 9 am Sunday as it moved across Sitkinak Island.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

A strong low south of the Aleutians moved toward Kodiak Island over the weekend. The storm reached an intensity of 961 mbs at 9 am Sunday as it moved across Sitkinak Island. The front elongated northeast through the Gulf of Alaska, preceded and accompanied by locally brisk east winds.Wind gusts were estimated higher than 60 mph at the Prince William Sound Science Center Sunday morning...around the same time the Cape Suckling buoy recorded wind gusts of 63 mph.Gusts at the Portage Glacier ASOS reached 74 mph from the east early Sunday, with winds diminishing below 60 mph by noon the same day.

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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 21, 9:00 PM AST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 21, 9:00 PM AST, 6 hours 15 minutes before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
900 PM AST SAT DEC 21 2002

ANALYSIS...MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH 36 HOURS THEN THE
SOLUTION DIVERGE. I PREFER THE ETA MODEL WHICH KEEP THE MAIN LOW
IN THE OVER THE COOK INLET AND SENDS A SECONDARY LOW INTO THE
INTERIOR.

FORECASTS...THE 984 MB LOW SOUTHWEST OF KODIAK ISLAND WILL
DISSIPATES LATER TONIGHT. THE REMAINS OF THE FRONT OVER THE KENAI
PENINSULA AND THE CENTRAL GULF COAST WILL DISSIPATE AFTER
MIDNIGHT. RAIN AND SNOW OVER THE PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND WILL BECOME
SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT.

THE 981 MB LOW 300 MILES SOUTH OF SAND POINT WILL MOVE TO NEAR
KODIAK AND DEEPEN TO 973 MB SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND WILL DRIFT INTO
THE LOWER COOK INLET AND WEAKEN TO 982 MB MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE
FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA SUNDAY AND WILL GO ALOFT
AS IT MOVES INTO SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA SUNDAY NIGHT AND THE
CENTRAL INTERIOR MONDAY.

MOST OF THE MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS NEXT SYSTEM WILL COME
UP OVER THE CENTRAL GULF COAST...THE COPPER RIVER BASIN AND
SOUTHEAST ALASKA. SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES THROUGH THOMPSON
PASS AND ALONG THE NORTH AND WEST SIDE OF THE COPPER RIVER BASIN
SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...GALE 2B..2B1..2C..3ABC..4..12A.

NM DEC 02

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns

When: December 22, 3:15 AM AST to 8:00 AM AST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 64 kt (74 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Sern P.W. Snd

When: December 22, 8:00 AM AST to 12:00 PM AST
Where: Sern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 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, December 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: 5323504, 5323503.