Name: High Wind in Alaska, October 9, 2002
Start: 2002-10-09T12:00
End: 2002-10-09T15:00
Location: Alaska

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 strong cold front, moving eastward across the Aleutians, was preceded by locally strong south and southeast winds. Peak winds across the Unalaska Island area (zone 185) reached at least 72 mph at the airport. Along the Alaska Peninsula (zone 181), peak winds of 54 mph occurred at Cold Bay between noon and 2 pm, however stronger gusts were reported in the general area. It is likely that strong winds also affected False Pass and Morzhovoi Bay.

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 9, 11:00 AM AST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 9, 11:00 AM AST, 1 hour before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1200 PM ADT WED OCT 9 2002

ANALYSIS...MODELS ALL IN AGREEMENT WITH BERING LOW AND ASSOCD
FRONTS.  ETA HAS A LITTLE BETTER DETAIL IN THE LATTER HOURS OF
THE RUN WITH RESPECT TO WEAKER LWOS IN THE GLFALSK. WILL GO WITH
THAT SOLN THIS EVE.

MAIN 973MB CENTRE NR 53N/172E MOVS SLOLY E TO NR 58N/180 BY 18Z
FRI AS A 976MB CENTRE. LOW QSTNRY THRU 12Z SAT AND DOESNT WEAKEN
MUCH (ONLY TO ABOUT 979MB) BY THEN. MAIN ACTION ALONG ASSOCD
OCFNT AND LOW DEVELOPING ALG IT. OCFNT IS CRRNTLY APPCHG A
PASN-PADU LN. 994MB LOW HAS FORMED AT 3PLE POINT JUST N OF THE
CHAIN. THIS LOW TRACKS TO NR PACZ BY 06Z FRI..WITH CDFNT FROM
LOW-SKJ ANS SE. NEW 1004MB LOW FORMS NR KODIAK ISLAND 12Z FRI
THEN MOVS TO VCY SW PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND BY 12Z SAT. ASSOCD CDFNT
TO SE PANHANDLE BY THEN. NEW 979MB LOW ABOUT 450NM S PADU 12Z
SAT.

FORECASTS...HWW CURRENTLY OVER CNTRL/ERN ALUTNS SHOULD DROP OVER
NITE INTO ADVISORY AS FRONT PASSES/STRETCHES OUT/WEAKENS. WIND
ADVISORY CONDITIONS INTO REST OF BRISTOL BAY AND KUSKO DELTA BY
MORNING. 50-55MPH GUSTS LOOK GOOD ATTM FOR THESE AREAS.

RA CRRNTLY MOVG ONSHORE KUSKO DELTA AND INTO BBAY.  KODIAK SHOULD
SEE SOME PRECIP LATER THU MORNING. DONT EXPECT MUCH PRECIP WISE
SCNTRL UNTIL OVERNIGHT THU INTO FRI WHEN LOW APPROACHES KENAI
PEN.

AFTER FRON CLEARS ALUTNS/AKPEN SHRA SITUATION WILL PRST WITH
GUSTY SW ADVISORY STRENGTH WINDS INTO SAT.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HWW 181, 185.
MARINE...STORMS 5B, 6B. GALES 3ABC, 5A, 6A, 8, 12A/A1/B, 13, 15.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

DAC OCT 02

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When: October 9, 12:00 PM AST to 3:00 PM AST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Eastern Aleutians

When: October 9, 12:00 PM AST to 3:00 PM AST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 63 kt (72 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

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: 5319158, 5319159.