High Wind in Alaska, November 29 to 30, 2002

Name: High Wind in Alaska, November 29 to 30, 2002
Start: 2002-11-29T14:00
End: 2002-11-30T02:35
Location: Alaska

November 29 to 30, 2002 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A vigorous low that was southwest of Kodiak Island on Friday moved northeast into Cook Inlet by the morning of the 30th. Across zone 125, gusts reached 63 mph briefly at Whittier at 7:50 pm Friday.

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 vigorous low that was southwest of Kodiak Island on Friday moved northeast into Cook Inlet by the morning of the 30th. By late in the day Saturday, the low dissipated near Kenai.Across zone 125, gusts reached 63 mph briefly at Whittier at 7:50 pm Friday. Gusts remained below 60 mph at the Portage ASOS, however, during the event.Across zone 101, gusts as high as 63 mph were recorded at McHugh Creek at 1:35 am Saturday. Glen Alps also reported strong winds, gusting to 62 mph between 1 and 2 am Saturday.

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 Nov 29, 1:10 AM AST, 12 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 29, 1:10 AM AST, 12 hours 50 minutes before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
9 PM AST THU NOV 28 2002

ANALYSIS...STORM FORCE LOW NEAR 47/154W IS TRACKING SLIGHTLY WEST
OF DUE NORTH WITH THE FULL OCCLUDED FRONT AS FAR NORTH AS 53N AT
00Z. STRONG WARM ADVECTION LOWER AND MID LEVELS AHEAD OF THIS
SYSTEM OVER THE NORTHERN GULF INTO SOUTH CENTRAL. THE SATELLITE
IMAGERY IS IMPRESSIVE WITH A FIRE HOSE STREAM OF MOISTURE FROM
HAWAII AIMED AT THE KENAI PENINSULA. THE JET IS STRONG OVER THIS
STREAM AROUND 150 KNOTS INTO AN UPPER RIDGE ALONG THE U.S. WEST
COAST AND THE PANHANDLE AHEAD OF A MAJOR UPPER LOW OVER THE
STORM. 500 MB TEMPERATURES HAVE ALREADY WARMED WELL INTO THE -20S
ALONG THE GULF COAST AND ARE LIKELY IN THE TEENS BELOW IN THE
CENTRAL GULF. A GALE FORCE LOW IS CENTERED NEAR 44/166E AT 978 MB
00Z WITH ANOTHER LONG WAVE ALONG 150E OR SO IN SUPPORT.

FORECASTS...THE NCEP MODELS KEEP CORRECTING TO THE LEFT(WEST) ON
THE TRACK OF THE STORM CENTER. THIS IS DUE TO THE UNDERESTIMATED
STRENGTH OF THE WEST COAST RIDGE AS WEVE BEEN SAYING FOR DAYS.
THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING PLENTY OF RAIN TO WINDWARD AREAS AND WIND
TO SOUTH CENTRAL FRIDAY AS IT TRACKS OVER KODIAK ISLAND BY FRIDAY
AFTERNOON AS THE LOW ELONGATES WELL TO THE NORTH INTO THE CENTRAL
INTERIOR. OF FIRST CONCERN IS RAINFALL AMOUNT WITH A 5 INCH
BULLSEYE NEAR SEWARD ON THE 00Z ETA QPF FOR 48 HOURS. THE MODEL
FORECASTS MOST OF THE RAIN OVER YAKUTAT BUT THE NEW ETA KEEPS
ONSHORE FLOW AND LOTS OF MOISTURE ONTO THE KENAI PENINSULA INTO
SATURDAY. THE AVN RAPIDLY KICKS OUT THE LOW TO THE NORTHEAST BUT
THE ETA AND UKMET MOVE THE SURFACE LOW INTO COOK INLET ON 00Z
SUNDAY IS PREFERRED. THE GALE LOW MOVES ALONG EAST JUST SOUTH OF
THE ALEUTIANS BECOMING THE DOMINANT FEATURE NEAR 50/170W AT 975
MB 00Z SUN. WE MAY HAVE SOME UPDATES LATER THIS EVENING FOR THE
ROAD SYSTEM FORECASTS. NO REAL COOLER AIR FOR ANCHORAGE UNTIL
SATURDAY NIGHT AND NO REAL WINTER YET AS THE ALEUTIAN SYSTEM
BRINGS IN ANOTHER SLUG OF WARM AIR BY MONDAY.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNG 135.
         WIND ADVSRY 101 111 121 125 161 171 181 185 191.
         SNOW ADVSRY 141.
MARINE...STORM 2B 2C 3AB 5AB.
         GALES 2B1 2C1 3C 4 4A 6AB 8 12AB 12A1 13.
JC NOV 02

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

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

When: November 29, 2:00 PM AST to 9:00 PM AST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: November 30, 1:35 AM AST to 2:35 AM AST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Measured: 54 kt (62 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: 5319166, 5319167.