Name: High Wind in Alaska, November 5, 2002
Start: 2002-11-05T14:00
End: 2002-11-05T17:00
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1.0 million
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 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 5, 10:00 AM AST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 5, 10:00 AM AST, 4 hours before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
10 AM AST TUE NOV 5 2002

ANALYSIS...IT LOOKS LIKE THE ETA MODEL IS HANDLING THE SITUATION
BETTER THAN THE AVIATION MODEL TODAY.

SATELLITE LOOPER INDICATES A WEAK LOW IS MOVE THROUGH THE BETHEL
AREA THIS MORNING WITH A FRONT ALOFT OVER THE WESTERN INTERIOR.
NOT MUCH WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORT WITH THIS SYSTEM AND NOT MUCH ID
EXPECTED AS IT MOVES WEST AND DISSIPATES OVER THE NORTHERN BERING
SEA THIS EVENING.

FORECASTS...THE 964 LOW 100 MILES SOUTHEAST OF KODIAK WILL MOVE
SOUTH OF KODIAK ISLAND THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO BRISTOL BAY
TONIGHT. THE LOW WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE WEST INTO THE CENTRAL
BERING SEAS WEDNESDAY AND BECOME NEARLY STATIONARY OVER THE
WESTERN BERING SEA THURSDAY. A STRONG WARM FRONT EXTENDING NORTH
OVER THE WESTERN GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST INTERIOR
THIS AFTERNOON AND THROUGH THE Y-K DELTA TONIGHT AND INTO THE
BERING SEAS WEDNESDAY. THE COLD FRONT TRAILING THE SOUTHEAST WILL
MOVE INTO KODIAK ISLAND THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL LIE OVER NORTHERN
BRISTOL BAY...SOUTHERN COOK INLET AND NORTHERN GULF OF ALASKA
TONIGHT. COLD FRONT WILL DISSIPATE OVER THE SOUTHERN KUSKOKWIM
VALLEY...KENAI PENINSULA AND THE CENTRAL GULF COAST WEDNESDAY.

A 968 MB LOW OVER THE CENTRAL NORTH PACIFIC WILL WILL MOVE TO 500
MILES SOUTH OF YAKUTAT THURSDAY AFTERNOON. THE OCCLUDED WILL LIE
ACROSS THE GULF OF ALASKA.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE ANCHORAGE HILLSIDE...TURNAGAIN
ARM...PORTAGE VALLEY AND CORDOVA.
MARINE...HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING...2B.
         STORM WARNING...2B1..2C..4.
         GALE WARNING...2C4..3AB..4A..12B..13

NM NOV 02

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Kodiak Peninsula

When: November 5, 2:00 PM AST to 5:00 PM AST
Where: Kodiak Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

A strengthening low pressure system in the southern Gulf of Alaska tracked further south and west of numerical progs and ended up moving to south of Kodiak Island, strengthening further, by mid day on the 5th. Winds channeled through the mountains reached the far western parts of Kodiak Island--particularly the Larsen Bay area--suddenly, just at the time of high tide. Winds were estimated at 40 to 50 mph with gusts to 70 mph. Many people reported that just standing up in the wind was difficult. One "old timer" said the easterlies were the worst he'd ever seen. The tidal surge, over a very short stretch of bay, was 1 to 2 feet on top of the high tide. The Larsen Bay breakwater, consisting of 4" by 12" timbers was destroyed. Major damage to the dock, pier, and messhall and bunkhouse floors (being smashed by waves from below) was reported. Water over the road made the shoreline road impassable. This "freak" event, having blown up suddenly--and exactly at the time of high tide, caused widespread damage to the Larsen Bay dock area--but was over shortly after the high tide.

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, 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: 5319100.