On Sunday January 26, less than 48 hours after the main off shore wind event occurred across the interior of the Panhandle, a front swept inland. As the front tracked in off the Gulf, the pressure gradient was able to restrengthen and result in a 1-2 hour period of high winds.
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.
On Sunday January 26, less than 48 hours after the main off shore wind event occurred across the interior of the Panhandle, a front swept inland. As the front tracked in off the Gulf, the pressure gradient was able to restrengthen and result in a 1-2 hour period of high winds. Taku winds were in down town Juneau and Douglas were the strongest measured during this event. Peak wind gusts of 74 mph were measured at the Juneau Rock Dump. Only minor damage resulted.
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 Jan 26, 2:45 AM AST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
245 AM AST SUN JAN 26 2003
.SYNOPSIS...
.SHORT RANGE...LATEST GOES IR SATELLITE IMAGERY LOOP SHOWS
STG CNTR OF LOW PRES FORMERLY MOVG N OVR THE SE GLFALSK
HAS BEGUN TO CURVE TWD THE NE IN LINE WITH THE CURRENT MODELS.
BACK EDGE OF THE ASSOC CDFNT IS NOW OVR THE SRN OUTER CST OF
SE AK. THE OCCLUDED FNT NOW STRETCHES FM THE LOW CNTR NE ACRS
CNTRL SE AK. CLOUDS HAVE DECREASED AND ARE SCTD TO BKN MID AND
HI LVL OVR THE ERN GLF CST AND OVR NRN SE AK.
ETA MODELS VERIFIED BEST ON THE MAGNITUDE OF THE CURRENT PRES
GRADS ACRS THE RGN AND SEEMS TO HAVE A GOOD FIX ON THE QPF ASSOC
WITH THE DEEP LOW AND ASSOC FNTL SYS APCHG SRN SE AK FM THE SW.
STG 970 MB LOW IN THE SE GLFALSK IS FCST TO DPN FURTHER TO
966 MB BEFORE MOVG OVR SRN SE AK LATER SUN MRNG. THE LOW WL BGN
TO WKN AS IT MOVS NE TO B.C. SUN AFTN.
ASSOC CDFNT NOW EXTDG S FM THE TRIPLE PT OVR CNTRL SE AK TO
THE INNER CHNLS OF SRN SE AK WILL MOV E INTO B.C. LATER SUN MRNG
WITH THE ASSOC OCCLUSION E-W ACRS CNTRL SE AK DRFTG NWD SLGTLY
AND BCMG QSNTRY LATER SUN MRNG. A NEW SURGE OF ARCTIC HI PRES
ALG THE ARCTIC CST OF AK AND CANADA WL MOV SE TO THE YUKON AND
NW TERRITORIES SUN AFTN.
THEREFORE...RAIN HVY TIMES OVR THE CSTL AND CNTRL INNER CHNLS OF
SRN SE AK SPRG E TO THE MISTY FJORDS RGN OF SRN SE AK WHERE SNOW
IS NOW FALLING. THEREFORE THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HVY SNOW
IN THE MISTY FJORDS RGN OF SRN SE AK WL BE CANCELLED WITH THE
ISSUANCE OF THE NEXT ZONE FORECAST. RAIN WL TAPER OFF TO
OCCASIONAL SHOWERS SUN AFTN.
RAIN OVR CNTR SE AK S OF FREDERICK SOUND WL ALSO BCM SHWRS SUN
AFTN. SNOW SPRDG TO THE PTN OF CNTRL SE AK N OF FREDERICK SOUND
QPF INDICATES UP TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE THERE. RAIN
ALG THE CNTRL AND NRN OUTER CST OF SE AK. ONLY A CHC OF LGT SNOW
FOR NRN INNER CHNLS OF SE AK.
ERN GLF CST WL BE WELL WEST OF THE ACTION OVR SE AK...THEREFORE
NO PCPN WL BE IN THE FCST FOR THE ERN GLF CST SUN.
STG GSTY WNDS WL NECESSITATE TO CONTINUING OF WIND ADVISORIES
OVR MUCH OF SE AK THRU SUN MRNG DMSHG OVR CNTRL AND SRN SE AK
SUN AFTN...BUT RMNG IN EFFECT OVR NRN SE AK THRU SUN AFTN.
.LONG RANGE...WITH MAJORITY OF ENERGY OFF THE APPROACHING SYSTEM
OVER THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE SUNDAY MOVING OFF TO THE EAST AN
EAST-WEST TROUGH REMAINS ACROSS THE CENTRAL PANHANDLE. THIS
LOOKS LIKE THE POSITION OF THE ARCTIC BOUNDARY BASED ON THE POOL
OF COLD AIR IN THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE. WOULD ESTIMATE POSITION FROM
ABOUT ENDICOTT ARM-ANGOON-TENAKEE AND THEN BACK ALONG THE COAST
OF THE PANHANDLE.
A COLD HIGH PRESSURE AREA FROM THE ARCTIC OCEAN SLIDING SOUTHEAST
THROUGH NORTHWEST CANADA MONDAY AND THEN CONTINUING INTO THE
MIDWEST BY MIDWEEK. OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA A MULTI-CENTER LOW
CENTERED SOUTH OF KODIAK ISLAND WILL ROTATE A COUPLE OF FRONTAL
BANDS TO SOUTHEAST ALASKA. THE FIRST IS TUESDAY, FOLLOWED BY A
DEVELOPING WAVE FOR TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY MORNING, THEN THE
NEXT ONE DEVELOPS FROM THE CENTRAL PACIFIC WITH A CURRENT TRACK
ACROSS THE SOUTHERN QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS THURSDAY.
THE TUESDAY SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE THE FRONTAL BAND IS WEAKENING AS IT
MOVES ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE FROM THE SOUTHWEST TUESDAY
MORNING AND THEN THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE BY AFTERNOON. THE
QUESTION HERE IS HOW MUCH WARM AIR IS THIS GOING TO BE ABLE TO
BRING WITH IT TO THE PANHANDLE. INITIAL FEELING IS RAIN TO THE
SOUTHERN HALF OF SOUTHEAST ALASKA WITH OVER RUNNING SNOW FOR
GUSTAVUS JUNEAU AND LYNN CANAL AREAS. THINK SNOW WILL MIX WITH
RAIN LATE TUESDAY THE GUSTAVUS-JUNEAU AREA.
THE TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY MORNING SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE
CENTRAL PANHANDLE AROUND SITKA-JUNEAU LINE. THIS SYSTEM
CURRENTLY SHOWING A CLOSED LOW CENTER FEATURE DOING THE MOVING.
NOT TOO SURE OVER THE LOW JUMPING INLAND LIKE THEY SHOW, IF IT
CURVES BACK ALONG THE COAST COULD SEE SOME MORE OVER RUNNING SNOW
AS IT WILL PULL A BIT MORE COLD AIR. AS IT IS SHOWING... LOOKS
LIKE RAIN FOR NEARLY ALL AREAS EXCEPT NORTHERN LYNN CANAL AND THE
EASTERN GULF COAST. THERE LOOKS TO BE A REMNANT TROUGH ACROSS
THE EASTERN GULF COAST AND PERHAPS NORTHERN LYNN CANAL.
THE NEXT SYSTEM FOR THURSDAY NIGHT LOOKS TO UNDER CUT THE
PANHANDLE REGION AND ABOUT ALL IT SHOULD DO IS BRING PERHAPS SOME
CLOUDS AND RAIN/RAIN-SNOW THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE IS INCREASE THE
NORTHERLY GRADIENT THROUGH THE INNER CHANNELS THURSDAY
NIGHT/FRIDAY, AND TRY TO SLIGHTLY CLEAR THE AREA UP. LONGER
RANGE MODELS ALSO SHOWING A BRIEF PERIOD OF RIDGING ACROSS THE
CENTRAL GULF FRIDAY AND THE ACROSS SOUTHEAST ALASKA SATURDAY.
.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORIES...ZONES 21..23..24..25..26..27..28..29
...SNOW ADVISORY...ZONE 25
MARINE...STORM...
AREA 1A1
...GALES...
AREA 1A2
AREA 1A3
AREA 1B
...SCA.....
AREA 2A
DED - BMB1 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, January 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: 5341224.