Alaska, 2002

High Wind in Alaska, September 12, 2002

September 12, 2002 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$4,000
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 Sep 12, 2:21 AM AST, 6 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 12, 2:21 AM AST, 6 hours 39 minutes before
SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1000 PM ADT THU SEP 11 2002

ANALYSIS...ETA AND AVN SIMILAR THROUGH 36 HR WITH STRONG LOW
MOVING ONTO WEST COAST THURSDAY MORNING. BEYOND 36 HR THEY
DIVERG. ETA SOLUTION HAS MORE RIDGING ALONG NORTHERN GULF AND A
WHOPPER OF A LOW OVER KODIAK AT 60 HR...974 MB WITH GREAT UPPER
SUPPORT.

NEW MODELS KEEP STORM SURGE WELL ABOVE SPRING TIDES FOR WEST
COAST. UPGRADED COASTAL FLOOD WATCH TO WARNING.

ONCE AGAIN TONIGHT PAHG AND PAIH RADARS ARE CLOGGED WITH
NON-WEATHER RELATED PARTICLES.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...COASTAL FLOOD WARNING ZONES 155 AND 161.
MARINE...GALES 2B 2C 3A 3B 5A 5B 6A 6B 8 12A 12A1 12B 13 15.

SEP 02

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When
September 12, 9:00 AM AST to 11:59 PM AST
Where
Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Measured
60 kt (69 mph)
Property damage
$4,000
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Complex lows over western Alaska, combined with a moderate high pressure ridge extending from the Gulf of Alaska into south-central Alaska, produced gusty southeast winds through Turnagain Arm and along much of the upper Anchorage hillside. Gusts reached 69 mph at Glen Alps between 11 am and noon Thursday and again at 2 am Friday. A report from a Forest Service site at the old Nike base above Alpenglow recorded a peak wind of 97 mph between 11 am Thursday and midnight. The accuracy of this report could not be confirmed.Anchorage police reported some roof damage to a house in Muldoon. KNIK radio station (the Breeze) was off the air for 3 hours Thursday night...a result of a tree that blew into a power line connected to their tower in Eagle River. Matanuska Electric Association reported 2 other instances of outages from trees being blown into power lines.Chugach Electric reported 18 instances of trees downing power lines in the Anchorage bowl. Most problems were in Chester Valley and along the southeast part of Anchorage.

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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, September 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: 5314503.