Damaging Wind in Alaska, July 18, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Alaska, July 18, 2002
Start: 2002-07-18T15:45
End: 2002-07-18T16:45
Location: Alaska

July 18, 2002 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

5 inches of rain, and wind gusts estimated to 58 mph. The track of the thunderstorm was north of the Fairbanks Airport, which recorded a maximum wind gust on the ASOS of 39 mph.

Where it happened

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Tropical storms and surge
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Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $13,000
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.

A Thunderstorm moved across Fairbanks bringing up to 1.5 inches of rain, and wind gusts estimated to 58 mph. The track of the thunderstorm was north of the Fairbanks Airport, which recorded a maximum wind gust on the ASOS of 39 mph. One mobile home was severely damaged when 6 spruce trees toppled onto it. One of these spruce trees hit a nearby travel trailer. At another home, fallen trees blocked the main entrance, requiring rescue workers to attend to the situation. Property damage is estimated sum of damage to the mobile home ($10,000) and travel trailer ($3000). There was also unknown property damage related to quite a few fallen trees on either properties or on power lines. The thunderstorm delivered between 300 and 500 lightning strikes, a large number for a single cell.

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 Jul 18, 1:30 PM AST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 1:30 PM AST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM ADT THU JUL 18 2002

HIGH PRESSURE RIDGING ALOFT WILL CONTINUE OVER THE INTERIOR
AND ARCTIC REGIONS INTO THE WEEKEND. HIGH TEMPERATURES OVER
THE INTERIOR AND THE ARCTIC FLATS WILL RANGE FROM THE 70S TO
LOWER 80S IN MOST AREAS ON MOST DAYS. MOST INTERIOR ZONES WILL
EXPERIENCE CONVECTION TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY IN A MOIST AND
VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS. ETA LIFTED INDEXES MAX OUT AT -2 TO -4.
PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ARE WELL ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS
OVER MANY AREAS OF INTERIOR WITH MAXIMUM VALUES OF 0.9 TO
1.1 INCHES. CONVECTIVE RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY.

AREAS OF BEST CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL...
TODAY...INTERIOR ZONES NORTH AND WEST OF PAEG-PAHV LINE.
 INLAND AREAS OF WEST COAST ZONES. REMNANTS OF OLD OCCLUSION
 TRANSITIONING INTO A THERMAL TROUGH AND PROVIDING MORE
 MOISTURE.
FRIDAY...NORTHERN AND WESTERN INTERIOR ZONES.
SATURDAY...NORTHERN AND EASTERN INTERIOR ZONES.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE
MARINE...NONE

RF JUL 02

The radar

The Fairbanks Faa radar (PAPD), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:45 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Middle Tanana Valley

When: July 18, 3:45 PM AST to 4:45 PM AST
Where: Middle Tanana Valley County, Fairbanks
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $13,000
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 64.817, -147.867

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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, July 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: 5306637.