A powerful front, associated with a low in the Aleutian chain, lifted through southern Southeast Alaska on this date. Damaging south-southeast winds resulted.
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.
The episode as NWS AJK wrote it up.
A powerful front, associated with a low in the Aleutian chain, lifted through southern Southeast Alaska on this date. Damaging south-southeast winds resulted. Peak winds included: 82 mph at the Hydaburg AWOS, 60 mph at the Ketchikan airport, and estimated gusts to 80 mph in both Craig and Metlakatla. The high winds downed trees and broke power lines in numerous locations. Power outages occurred in the communities of Craig, Thorne Bay and Hydaburg. In Metlakatla harbor, high winds tore a third of the roof off a three story cold storage building. The concrete structure had a wood and shingle roofing system. Advisory level winds (40 mph or more) were experienced elsewhere in Southeast Alaska from this frontal system.
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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 14, 10:45 AM AST, 20 hours earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1045 AM AST SUN DEC 14 2003
.SYNOPSIS...
.SHORT RANGE...MAIN UPR LOW JUST S OF THE AK PEN MOVG EWD AT ABT
25KT. THIS SYS IS PROB NR MAX DEPTH AT 948MB. THE UPR LOW WL
PROB CONT TO DVLP A LTL AND BCM CLSD THRU MON AFT. THERE IS ALSO
A STG JTSTM ASSOCD W/ THIS LOW THAT PUSHS EWD ACRS THE N PAC AND
BCMS MORE SWLY AS IT MOVS OVR THE NRN BC CST THRU MON AFTN.
THE ASSOCD FNTL SYS IS SGFNTLY PUSHG AHAD OF THE LOW. BEST GUESS
IS THAT IT IS MOVG NEWD AT ABT 35KT. THE TRPL PT IS MOVE ENEWD
AND IS CAUSING THE OCFNT OVR THE GLF AK TO STRCH AND WKN. THE
RSLTS WL BE THE ASSOCD WNDS SHLD BE LESS THAN XPCTD.
XPCT THE MAX WNDS WL BE ALNG THE CSTL WTRS OF SE AK AND SPCLY THE
SRN PTN. ATTM WL GO W/ HI WND WRNG FOR THE ENTIRE CSTL WTRS OF
SE AK BGNG THIS EVENG AND CONTG THRU EARLY MRNG. XPCT WND ADV
FOR ERN GLF CST AND ALL INNR CHNLS OF SE AK XCPT BOTH LYNN CANAL
ZONES.
THERE IS STILL A WK SFC RDG JUST INLD FM SE AK SO XPCT THERE WL
BE A GD E TO NE GRAD SPCLY ALNG THE NRN INNR CHNLS OF SE AK.
THIS WL KEEP THE CD AIR SUPPLIED IN THIS AREA SO XPCT SOME SGFNT
SNW THRU TNGT BFR THE PCPN CHGS TO RA IN MOST AREAS MON. THE MAIN
AREA WL BE ZN29 W/ GOOD OUTFLOW AND CD AMS. XPCT HVY SNOW TNGT
IN THIS AREA. RMNDR OF NRN INNR CHNLS XPCT ADV LVL SNOW.
.LONG RANGE...MON NIGHT THROUGH SUN. DEEP GLFAK LOW CENTER WILL
BE HANGING AROUND AT LEAST THROUGH MIDWEEK AS IT DRIFTS TO NEAR
PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND WED AND SLOWLY WEAKENS. LAST OF SIGNIFICANT
FRONTAL WAVES MOVES INTO SOUTHERN SOUTHEAST ALASKA LATE MON. AVN
DOES HAVE ANOTHER WAVE FOR WED NIGHT THAT COMES OFF LOW JUST
CROSSING THE DATELINE SUN NIGHT. LOW FORECAST TO STAY JUST SOUTH
OF THE PANHANDLE THOUGH.
FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT SECOND WRAP OF OCFNT MOVING INTO EASTERN GLFAK
EARLY TUE AS LOW MOVES TO CENTRAL GULF. THIS TWO FEATURES KEEP
STRONG WINDS OVER EASTERN GLFAK THROUGH TUE NIGHT BEFORE DROPPING
TO SCA WED. ALSO KEEPS STEADY PRECIP TUE BEFORE SWITCH FOR
SHOWERS FOR WED. SOME COOLING AS SHOWERY AIR MASS MOVES IN BUT
TEMPS ARE MARGINAL FOR ANY SNOW AND BRISK SOUTHEAST WINDS SHOULD
KEEP THINGS MAINLY RAIN UNTIL THU.
NOT A LOT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN LONGER RANGE MODELS ON NEXT SYSTEM
MOVING INTO THE GULF THU NIGHT/FRI. SHORT BREAK IN PRECIP
EXPECTED THU/FRI AHEAD OF THIS FRONT. FRONTAL PRECIP BACK IN FOR
THE WEEKEDN. MRF IS PUTTING MORE EMPHASIS ON MUCH STRONGER SYSTEM
COMING IN FOR LATE IN THE WEEKEND.
.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...HI WND WRNG TNGT...ZN22...ZN23...ZN27
WND ADV TNGT...ZN17...ZN21-22...ZN24-26...ZN28-29.
HVY SNW WRNG TNGT...ZN29
SNOW ADV TNGT...ZN18-19...ZN25...AND ERN ZN26.
MARINE...STRMS TNGT 42...43...AND 44 TNGT.
GALES TNGT ERN GLF CST.
GALES TNGT ALL INSIDE WTRS XCPT LYNN CANAL.3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2003
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: 5327682, 5327683, 5327684.