Name: High Wind in Alaska, October 28 to 29, 2002
Start: 2002-10-28T15:05
End: 2002-10-29T03:35
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 Oct 28, 2:13 PM AST, 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 28, 2:13 PM AST, 52 minutes before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
9 AM AST MON OCT 28 2002

ANALYSIS...UNSEASONABLY WARM AND WET FALL WEATHER CONTINUES FOR
THE ANCHORAGE FORECAST AREA. A 962 MB STORM FORCE LOW NEAR
50/159W AT 3 AM IS SUPPORTED ALOFT BY A RELATIVELY WARM MAJOR
UPPER LOW WITH 500 MB TEMPERATURES IN THE MID -20C RANGE. KENAI
RADAR SHOWS HEAVY AMOUNTS OF PRECIPITATION ON THE WEST SIDE OF
COOK INLET WITH A RAIN SHADOW OVER MUCH OF THE KENAI PENINSULA SO
FAR. THE SATELLITE IMAGERY LOOKS VERY SIMILAR TO THE LAST FLOOD
EVENT HENCE THE WATCHES AND WARNING ALREADY OUT. THE SOUTH-
SOUTHEAST FETCH OF MOISTURE IS FROM 30N WITH THE TRAILING CIRRUS
ALMOST TO HAWAII. THE SOUTHERLY JET CORE NEAR 48/148W IS 150KT.
THE UPPER HIGH OVER NORTHWESTERN CANADA LOOKS LIKE AN EFFECTIVE
BLOCK FOR THEM SO CONTINUED WARM AND WET FOR US.

FORECASTS...ALL 12Z MODELS REVIEWED SO FAR AGREE THAT THE STORM
CENTER WILL MOVE TO NEAR COLD BAY BY EARLY TUESDAY MORNING.
DETAILS IN THE ETA MODEL ARE PREFERRED. THE FIRST LOOK AT THIS
MORNINGS ETA QPF SHOWS 2.45 INCHES NEAR SEWARD BY 12Z TUESDAY
WITH AROUND ONE INCH OVER THE EASTERN KENAI MOUNTAINS. THE
EASTERLY COMPONENT OF THE WIND IS A LITTLE STRONGER WITH THIS
SYSTEM SO EXPECT MORE RAIN ON THE WINDWARD SLOPES. OVER TWO MORE
INCHES ARE ON THE ETA QPF FOR THE SECOND PERIOD ENDING 00Z WED
AND A WAVE DEVELOPING ON THE FRONT NEAR KODIAK BY 00Z WED WILL
BRING MORE RAIN ON THE RETURN FLOW BEHIND THE FRONT. STRONG WINDS
WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH ON WEDNESDAY AS THE STORM FILLS.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...FLOOD WARNING 125. FLOOD WATCH 121.
         HIGH WIND WARNING 101 161 171 185.
         WIND ADVSRY 111 135 151 155 181 191 195.
MARINE...STORM 2B 2C 3ABC 5AB 6AB 8 12A.
         GALES 2B1 2C4 12B 12A1 15.

JC OCT 02

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: October 28, 3:05 PM AST to October 29, 3:35 AM AST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Measured: 78 kt (90 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

An intense low pressure system moving north from the Alaska peninsula combined with high pressure building west out of Canada produced a strong pressure gradient across the Anchorage upper hillside and Turnagain Arm.Wind-tossed trees took out power lines primarily in South Anchorage, causing around 30 power outages, primarily along Hillside and Sand Lake areas. Winds also downed spruce trees in several sections of Anchorage. At least one vehicle (1994 Ford F-150) was struck by a falling tree on Strawberry Road. On Cranberry Road and Delta Drive, across the street from Bell's Nursery, a spruce tree was draped over the carport of an apartment building.

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, October 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: 5319850.