High Wind in Alaska, November 23, 2002

Name: High Wind in Alaska, November 23, 2002
Start: 2002-11-23T01:00
End: 2002-11-23T04:53
Location: Alaska

November 23, 2002 · NWS AFG · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 low pressure center moving north in the western Gulf of Alaska brought increasing south winds to the Alaska Range and nearby areas. High winds were reported in zone 223 at the Delta Junction ASOS, where the peak gust was 52 mph. Winds over zones 225 and 226 were estimated to be gusting to 50 mph due to the pressure gradient over the region; winds at Healy did not gust beyond 23 mph.As the low pressure center moved rapidly northwest on the afternoon of the 23rd, winds and blowing snow increased over far western Alaska, resulting in blizzard condition at Gambell on St. Lawrence Island.

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 Nov 22, 7:15 PM AST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 22, 7:15 PM AST, 5 hours 45 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM AST FRI NOV 22 2002

THE LONG WAVE PATTERN CONSISTS OF A HIGH AMPLITUDE TROUGH OVER
THE BERING AND NORTH PACIFIC WITH A RIDGE IN WESTERN CANADA.
THE RIDGE WILL BUILD THROUGH THE WEEKEND...AND THEN SLOWLY WEAKEN
IN THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AS A SERIES OF STRONG SHORT WAVES ERODE
THE RIDGE. SOUTH FLOW OF WARM MOIST AIR FROM SUB-TROPICS IS NOW
BEGINNING TO PUSH ACROSS ALASKA AND WILL STRENGTHEN THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
TEMPERATURES WARMING THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND REMAINING WARM THROUGH
THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK IN MUCH OF NORTHERN ALASKA.
EACH SHORT WAVE WILL HAVE CHINOOK WINDS ACROSS THE ALASKA RANGE...
AND PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW OR POSSIBLY RAIN FURTHER NORTH AND WEST.
NORTHWEST ALASKA WILL CONTINUE TO SEE PERIODS OF SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW.

AVN MAINTAINS A DEEPER DEPTH THAN ETA ON LOW COMING INTO WESTERN ALASKA
SATURDAY. THIS IS PREFERRED SOLUTION AS THERE IS A NEGATIVELY TILTED
TROUGH ALOFT AND VERY STRONG DYNAMICS SUPPORTING THIS FEATURE. ECMF
MAINTAINS AND EVEN DEEPER DEPTH ON THIS FEATURE. WILL USE AVN SOLUTION.

A WEAK TROUGH ALOFT FROM ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST WILL MOVE NORTH OF
THE COAST THIS EVENING. FLURRIES AND EAST WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
TROUGH WILL DIMINISH TEMPORARILY.

A SECOND TROUGH ALOFT FROM PAEM-PAOT-PAKP WILL MOVE TO PAGM-PAPO-PABR
BY 3AM SAT...AND THEN CONTINUE NORTHWEST AND WEAKEN. SCATTERED SNOW
SHOWERS ALONG THE TROUGH ALONG THE WEST COAST WILL DIMINISH TO FLURRIES
FURTHER EAST. EAST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 25KT ALONG THE TROUGH.

THE DEEP LOW IN THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE TO PAUN AS A 985 LOW 3PM
SATURDAY...AND TO NORTHWEST OF BARROW AS A 988 LOW 3PM SUNDAY. THE
ASSOCIATED WARM FRONT ALONG THE GULF OF ALASKA COAST WILL MOVE TO
PFYU-PAMC-PAKN BY 3AM SATURDAY...TO PABA-PPIZ-PAOT 3PM SATURDAY AND
THEN CONTINUE NORTH AND OCCLUDE. WILL SEE SOUTHEAST WINDS 20-30KT
ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE FRONT. GALES NORTH AND WEST OF THE LOW CENTER
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THERE WILL BE STRONG CHINOOK WINDS
OVER THE ALASKA RANGE ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE FRONT. NORTHWEST OF THE
CHINOOK SHADOW WILL SEE LIGHT SNOW AHEAD OF THE WARM FRONT WITH
FREEZING RAIN POSSIBLE ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE FRONT. ANY FREEZING RAIN
SHOULD BE VERY LIGHT. SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW ARE POSSIBLE ALONG
THE PATH OF THE LOW CENTER. IN THE CHINOOK SHADOW THERE IS A POSSIBILITY
OF FLURRIES AND FREEZING DRIZZLE AHEAD OF THE FRONT.

A TRAILING COLD FRONT WILL MOVE TO PAUN-PAKN 3PM SATURDAY...
PAWI-PABT-PAIN 3AM SUNDAY...PABA-PABI 3PM SUNDAY. THERE WILL BE PERIODS
OF SNOW ALONG THE COLD FRONT. WINDS WILL DIMINISH ALONG THE COLD FRONT.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HI WIND WARNING ZONES 223...225...226.
MARINE...GALES 9B AND 10B. SCA/BRSK 14..9A..10A..11A..11B.

JB NOV 02

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Denali

When: November 23, 1:00 AM AST to 3:00 AM AST
Where: Denali forecast zone
Measured: 43 kt (49 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng

When: November 23, 1:00 AM AST to 3:00 AM AST
Where: Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng forecast zone
Measured: 43 kt (49 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Deltana and Tanana

When: November 23, 3:53 AM AST to 4:53 AM AST
Where: Deltana and Tanana forecast zone
Measured: 45 kt (52 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, November 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: 5322437, 5322438, 5322436.