Name: High Wind in Alaska, December 3, 2002
Start: 2002-12-03T06:53
End: 2002-12-03T23:30
Location: Alaska

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 990 mb low along the southwest end of Shelikof Strait moved into Bristol Bay, pushing a warm front to an arc through Iliamna and into the southern Kenai Peninsula. Gusty east winds were channeled by terrain in both zones 101 and 125. Additionally, areas of freezing rain were reported in both zone 101 and zone 155, although reported amounts were generally very light.Across zone 125, wind gusts as high as 64 mph were recorded at the Portage ASOS between 10 and 11 am Tuesday.In zone 101, a triple digit gust of 101 mph was recorded by a system on Black Bear Circle, in Bear Valley, by Caryn Smith. Gusts of 86 mph were recorded at McHugh Creek at 5:05 pm Tuesday. Gusts the same day reached 67 mph (several times) at Glen Alps and 58 mph at Bird Point.

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 3, 2:26 AM AST, 4 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 3, 2:26 AM AST, 4 hours 27 minutes before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
900 PM AST MON DEC 2 2002

ANALYSIS...OLD TRIPLE POINT/WARM FRONT MOVING OVER COOK INLET MON
EVENING WITH A LITTLE LIGHT RAIN. HEAVIER AMOUNTS KENAI PEN
PARTICULARLY GULF SIDE.

MODELS GENERALLY SIMILAR MOVING NEXT WAVE ACROSS SOUTHERN GULF TO
JUST SOUTH KODIAK ISLAND 12Z..BRISTOL BAY 18Z..KUSKOKWIM BAY 00Z
WED INTO NORTHERN BERING THEREAFTER. WAVE IN UPPER 980S AT 00Z SO
ETA LOOKS SLIGHTLY BETTER..AVN JUST A LITTLE SHALLOWER.  FULL
GALE NORTHERN GULF AND MOST OF KODIAK ISLAND AND SOUTHERN COOK
INLET.  CONTINUED MILD.

ALL MODELS MOVE NEXT NORTH PACIFIC STORM TO NEAR 960 MB 46N 174W
12Z WED WITH FRONT JUST SOUTH OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALEUTIANS.
LOW CONTINUING TO JUST SOUTH NIKOLSKI AROUND 967 MB 12Z THU WITH
FRONT IN ARC TO NEAR NUNIVAK ISLAND SOUTHEAST TO NEAR SAND POINT.
SOUTHEAST GALES INADVANCE. NORTHERLY GALES WESTERN ALEUTIANS.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...GALE 2B,3,4,13.

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

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

When: December 3, 6:53 AM AST to 12:58 PM AST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: December 3, 1:26 PM AST to 11:30 PM AST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Measured: 88 kt (101 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

More

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: 5318635, 5318636.