Flash Flood and High Wind in Alaska, February 4 to 5, 2003

Name: Flash Flood and High Wind in Alaska, February 4 to 5, 2003
Start: 2003-02-04T04:00
End: 2003-02-05T10:45
Location: Alaska

February 4 to 5, 2003 · NWS AFC · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

Unofficial wind gusts of 102 mph were recorded at Site Summit (just east northeast of the Anchorage Bowl) around 1 pm Tuesday. Strongest winds in the Anchorage Municipality were reported along the Upper Hillside at the Glen Alps site and also at the McHugh Creek Seward Highway RWIS, along the northwest shore of Turnagain Arm.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1,000
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 frontal system moving toward the area was preceded by strong southeast winds around Turnagain Arm and the Upper Anchorage Hillside.Unofficial wind gusts of 102 mph were recorded at Site Summit (just east northeast of the Anchorage Bowl) around 1 pm Tuesday. Strongest winds in the Anchorage Municipality were reported along the Upper Hillside at the Glen Alps site and also at the McHugh Creek Seward Highway RWIS, along the northwest shore of Turnagain Arm. Glen Alps peak winds reached at least 80 mph (software problems resulted in missing gusts)...while gusts as high as 90 mph were recorded at McHugh Creek. Additionally, extremely heavy rains fell around the Portage Valley, through much of Prince William Sound, around Resurrection Bay and Seward. 24 hour precipitation totals between 9 and 10 inches were reported around the Portage Valley near the Visitor Center and also just north of Seward in the Lawing area. No significant flooding was reported, however.Additionally, very heavy rains were reported along south and southeast exposures of the Kenai Peninsula and also in parts of northeast Prince William Sound. Precipitation totals in the 10-15 inch range in less than a 48 hour period prompted an extraordinary winter flood warning for small streams in these areas. Usually at this time of year, rivers and streams are ice covered and precipitation is mostly snow.Seward reported anywhere from 4 to 9 inches of rain, with heaviest amounts just north of town in a 48 hour period. Girdwood police called in that small creeks and streams in that area were running "quite full", however no actual reports of flooding were received in that particular area. To the south, however, the heavy rains did cause water over the Seward Highway in the Glacier and Salmon Creek areas north of town.

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 Feb 3, 9:00 PM AST, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 3, 9:00 PM AST, 7 hours before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
900 PM AST MON FEB 3 2003

ANALYSIS AND FORECASTS...AN INTENSE LOW NOW SOUTH OF THE AK
PENINSULA AND ITS ASSOCIATED FRONT IS IMPACTING THE GULF COAST
REGION. STRONG SOUTHEAST WIND AND HEAVY PRECIPITATION ARE THE
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS SYSTEM. THE FRONT WILL MOVE TO ALONG
THE COAST THROUGH TONIGHT AND THEN PUSH NORTH BECOMING DIFUSE
OVER WESTERN ALASKA BUT MAINTAINING A STRONG SOUTHERLY FEED OF
MOIST WARM AIR. EXPECT ANOTHER SHOT OF STRONG SOUTHEAST WIND
ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA. THEREFORE, ANTICIPATE A SLIGHT BREAK
IN THE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS UNTIL AMOUNTS INTENSIFY AGAIN TUE
AFTERNOON. FREEZING LEVELS ARE AROUND 5000 TO 6000 FEET OVER THE
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION AND WILL RISE TO AROUND 2000 FT OVER THE
COPPER RIVER BASIN. THE HEAVY RAIN AND RISING FREEZING LEVELS
WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR URBAN FLOODING OVER THE EASTERN
KENAI PENINSULA.

OVER THE SOUTHWEST REGION EXPECT STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS COUPLE
WITH SNOW TO DEVELOP IN THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA LATE TUE PRODUCING A
BRIEF PERIOD OF BLIZZARD CONDITIONS FOR THE COASTAL AREAS NORTH
OF NUNIVAK ISLAND. THE ONLY HITCH HERE IS THE WARM AIR NOW IN
PLACE THAT MAY RESULT IN THE SNOW BEING WET OR MIXED WITH RAIN.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING ZONE 101. BLIZZARD WATCH ZONE 155
         URBAN FLOOD ADVISORY ZONE 125 131 AND 135.
MARINE...SEE MARINE FORECASTS.
FIRE WEATHER...DONE.

SAM FEB 03

Event by event

2 high wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: February 4, 4:00 AM AST to 10:00 PM AST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Measured: 78 kt (90 mph)
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE

High Wind, Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns

When: February 4, 2:53 PM AST to 3:53 PM AST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 73 kt (84 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Flash Flood, Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns

When: February 4, 8:00 PM AST to February 5, 10:45 AM AST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns County, 25 mi N of Seward
Property damage: $1,000
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.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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, February 2003

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: 5339377, 5339376, 5339378.