Storm Surge and High Wind in Alaska, December 8 to 9, 2003

Name: Storm Surge and High Wind in Alaska, December 8 to 9, 2003
Start: 2003-12-08T10:00
End: 2003-12-09T10:15
Location: Alaska

December 8 to 9, 2003 · NWS AFC · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A strong front moved toward the Alaska Peninsula from the west. The tight pressure gradient in advance of this front produced strong wind across the Alaska Peninsula on the morning of the 8th.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 front moved toward the Alaska Peninsula from the west. The tight pressure gradient in advance of this front produced strong wind across the Alaska Peninsula on the morning of the 8th. A ship outside of Cold Bay reported measured wind gusts of 104 mph. The storm center associated with this low was located over the western Aleutians and moved into the northern Bering sea. The strong long southwest fetch across the Bering Sea resulted in a coastal storm surge along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Delta and northern Bristol 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 Dec 7, 9:00 PM AST, 13 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 7, 9:00 PM AST, 13 hours before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
900 PM AST SUN DEC 7 2003

.DISCUSSION...BIG WEATHER MAKER THIS EVENING...AND FOR THE NEXT FEW
DAYS...IS THE 958 MB LOW NEAR ATTU. THIS POWERFUL LOW WILL SHOULD
REACH ITS PEAK STRENGTH MONDAY AND THEN BEGIN TO WEAKEN TUESDAY AS IT
MOVES TO 59N 176W. A STRONG SECONDARY LOW WILL FORM NEAR 47N 180
TUESDAY AND THEN MOVE TO NEAR DUTCH HARBOR WEDNESDAY.

THE LOW NEAR ATTU HAS PRODUCED A STRONG OCCLUDED FRONT THAT HAS A
TRIPLE POINT LOW DEVELOPING NEAR ATKA. THIS FRONT WILL MOVE QUICKLY
EASTWARD AND PUSH INTO THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA AND EASTERN ALASKA
PENINSULA BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. IT WILL MOVE TO A KUSKOKWIM VALLEY TO
SUSITNA VALLEY TO MIDDLETON ISLAND LINE MONDAY NIGHT. STRONG WINDS
WILL ACCOMPANY THIS FRONT...HOWEVER THE WINDS WILL DIMINISH AS IT
MOVES EASTWARD. STRONGEST WINDS FOR THIS SYSTEM WILL OCCUR IN THE
REGION OF COLD ADVECTION AND TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT AROUND THE
SOUTHERN RIM OF THE LOW LATE TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. A HIGH WIND
WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ZONE 191 WHICH IS IN THIS REGION.

THERE ARE OTHER FEATURES OF INTEREST IN THE SHORT RUN AS WELL. A WEAK
FRONT IN THE GULF OF ALASKA IS PUMPING MOISTURE INTO PRINCE WILLIAM
SOUND AND SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA TONIGHT. SNOW SHOWERS SHOULD TURN TO
STRAIGHT SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT FOR THE SOUND. THIS WILL CONTINUE INTO
MONDAY BUT WILL PROBABLY BEGIN TO TURN TO RAIN IN THE SOUTHERN SOUND
TOMORROW.
THIS SAME MOISTURE SOURCE IS CAUSING SNOW IN THE SUSITNA VALLEY AS IT
OVERRIDES THE DOME OF COLD AIR IN PLACE IN THE VALLEY.

AN UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE SOUTH OF KODIAK ISLAND WILL MAKE ITS WAY UP
COOK INLET MONDAY EVENING AND QUICKLY MOVE INTO THE INTERIOR AFTER
MIDNIGHT.  THIS WILL GIVE A CHANCE OF SNOW FOR THE KENAI PENINSULA
THROUGH SUSITNA VALLEY TOMORROW LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH EVENING.

ETA AND AVN MODELS SEEM TO BE IN GOOD AGREEMENT TONIGHT. AVN
INITIALIZATION AND PERFORMANCE OVER THE FIRST SIX HOURS OF THIS RUN
SEEM TO VERIFY VERY WELL AS TO THE POSITION AND STRENGTH OF THE LARGE
ATTU LOW.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 191.
MARINE...GALE 5A 12A1.
         STORM 5B 6A 6B 8 12A 12B 15.
         HURRICANE FORCE 13.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

EZ DEC 03

Event by event

2 storm surge/tide, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When: December 8, 10:00 AM AST to 12:00 PM AST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 90 kt (104 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Storm Surge/Tide, Kuskokwim Delta

When: December 9, 3:00 AM AST to 10:15 AM AST
Where: Kuskokwim Delta forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

Storm Surge/Tide, Bristol Bay

When: December 9, 3:00 AM AST to 10:15 AM AST
Where: Bristol Bay forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
Storm Surge/Tide: Water pushed ashore above the normal tide by a storm’s winds and low pressure.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, December 2003 The 2003 hurricane season

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: 5336610, 5336611, 5336612.