1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Mar 12, 10:00 AM AST, 10 hours earlier.
SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
10 AM AST WED MAR 12 2003
...TOTAL POWER OUTAGE SCHEDULED HERE FOR 1300 THIS AFTERNOON...
ANALYSIS...THE STRONG UPPER HIGH PERSISTS NEAR ANADYR THIS
MORNING WITH A DEEP UPPER LOW NEAR BANKS ISLAND. THE RESULT IS A
NORTHWESTERLY JET OVER OVER WESTERN ALASKA WITH THE EXIT OVER
MIDDLETON ISLAND AT 12Z. CORE SPEED 110 KNOT 250 MB AT PAOT 12Z.
THIS IS THE UPPER SUPPORT OVER ALREADY STRONG SURFACE PRESSURE
GRADIENTS BETWEEN A HIGH CELL IN THE 1040S NEAR WRANGEL ISLAND
AND TWO DEEP LOWS SOUTH OF THE GULF. THE MAIN LOW IS BELOW 968 MB
AT 18Z NEAR 48/140W WITH A STRONG OCCLUDED FRONT AND MOVING NORTH
NORTHEASTWARD. BOTH NCEP ANALYSES AND THE MODELS DO NOT HAVE A
CLOSED LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM NEAR 58/144W WHICH IS OBVIOUS ON GOES
VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY. THIS LOW IS HELPING TO ACCELERATE
SURFACE WINDS FOR THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN SECTIONS.
FORECASTS...THE NCEP MODELS SHOW AN INVERTED TROUGH OVER THE
CENTRAL GULF AT 18Z TODAY. WE EXPECT THE PROBLEM LOW TO MOVE
SLOWLY SOUTHWESTWARD UNTIL IT IS ABSORBED BY THE STRONG SURFACE
LOW THAT WILL SLAM THE PANHANDLE. ALL THIS IS DUE TO THE MAIN
UPPER LOW DIGGING SOUTHWARD INTO THE GULF BY 18Z THURSDAY. ONE
FORECAST PROBLEM TODAY IS THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE UPPER CENTER
AS IT DIGS. THE 12Z GFS FORECASTS THE CENTER 60 MILES SOUTH OF
SEWARD AT 00Z FRIDAY. ALSO THE UPPER HIGH MOVES INTO THE CENTRAL
BERING SEA WHICH MOVES THE NORTHERLY JET AXIS ALONG 165W OR SO.
THIS IS IN KEEPING WITH THE GFS ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE USED YESTERDAY.
ALL MODELS DEVELOP A SECONDARY SURFACE LOW BETWEEN 955 AND 962 MB
JUST OFF KODIAK ISLAND BY 00Z SAT WHICH KEEPS LOTS OF SURFACE
PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER MOST OF OUR FORECAST AREA FOR CONTINUED
WIND WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES. ALL MODELS HAVE THE MAIN UPPER LOW
ALONG 150W BY 12Z SAT FOR ONSHORE FLOW ALOFT INTO SOUTH CENTRAL.
GOTTA GO. FORECASTS GET DRAFTED EARLY TODAY DUE TO POWER OUTAGE.
.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 111 125 135.
WIND ADVSRY 101 131 141 161 171 181 185 195.
MARINE...STORM 3A 6A.
GALES 2B 2C 2C1 3B 3C 4 5AB 6B 8 12A 12A1 15.
FIRE WEATHER...RED FLAG WARNING.
JC MAR 031 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A 1004 mb low just south of Cape Saint Elias, combined with the arctic front in the northern Gulf of Alaska to produce strong outflow winds out of the Copper River Delta. Wind gusts were estimated at 100+ mph. Considerable blowing dust from the Delta was observed on the Middleton Island FAA camera system.
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, March 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: 5340801.