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 5, 9:30 AM AST, 45 minutes earlier.
SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION 930 AM AST WED MAR 5 2003 ANALYSIS...HIGH PRESSURE CONTINUES TO BUILD OVER THE BERING SEA INTO THE ARCTIC ALONG 180. WITH A STATIONARY CUTOFF CENTERED AT 42/170W AND AN UPPER TROUGH OVER THE GULF...NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT HAS INCREASED OVER MUCH OF THIS HUGE FORECAST AREA. THE SURFACE HIGH CELL IS 1041 MB EAST OF THE PRIBILOFS AT 12Z EXTENDING INTO NORTHERN ALASKA. THE ARCTIC FRONT HAS WORKED ITS WAY DOWN TO THE NORTH GULF COAST WITH ANOTHER SURFACE TROUGH JUST OFFSHORE. A 150 KNOT JET HAS BECOME ESTABLISHED ALONG 160E TO CONTINUE TO BUILD THE RIDGE AND THE PAOM 12Z RAOB SHOWS 350/90KT AT 250 MB. THERE ARE SOME REALLY LOW DEW POINTS INLAND THIS MORNING LIKE 3F AT PAVW. GOES VISIBLE IMAGERY NOW AVAILABLE EARLY IS REALLY CLEAR OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AND THE COPPER BASIN INTO THE GULF. FORECASTS...THE MAIN SHORT TERM FORECAST PROBLEM THIS MORNING IS SURFACE WIND. ALL MODELS REVIEWED MOVE THE CENTER OF THE MAIN HIGH CELL TO THE GULF OF ANADYR BY 00Z FRI WITH A LONG SURFACE RIDGE EXTENDING EASTWARD OVER THE CENTRAL INTERIOR. AS YESTERDAY THERE IS SOME MODEL DIVERGENCE ON THE CONFIGURATION OF LOW PRESSURE IN THE GULF. ALL MODELS PLUS A LOOK AT THE MM5 POINT TO A SERIES OF ADVISORIES FOR LOCAL STRONG WIND CONDITIONS THROUGH SUNDAY. THE NORTH GULF GRADIENT PEAKS ON SUNDAY FOR POSSIBLE WARNING CRITERIA FOR THE VALDEZ AREA BEST DEPICTED ON THE 12Z GFS PROG. REGARDLESS OF THE MODEL PICKED...THE THEME IS COLD DRY LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW FOR MOST OF THE AREA OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. MEDIUM RANGE: THE MODELS HAVE BEEN CORRECTING THE CENTER OF THE MONDO UPPER HIGH TO THE WEST OVER THE LAST FEW RUNS. ALL PLACE THE CENTER JUST NORTHWEST OF THE BERING STRAIT BY 12Z SATURDAY. AS USUAL...DIVERGENCE ON SOLUTIONS STARTS ON DAY FOUR WITH THE 12Z GFS PREDICTING A DEEPER UPPER LOW OFF THE QUEEN CHARLOTTES AND SOME DIFFERENCES ON THE CENTER OF THE MAIN UPPER HIGH. REGARDLESS THE STRONG NORTHEAST FLOW ALOFT OVER THE FORECAST AREA INTO NEXT WEEK. .AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY PUBLIC...WIND ADVSRY 125 131 135 171 191. MARINE...GALES 3AC 5A 13. HVY FRZ SPRAY 2C4 6A (UPDATED). JC MAR 03
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High pressure building over mainland Alaska and a weak trough over the Gulf of Alaska, produced moderate to strong north-south pressure gradients and locally strong northeasterly winds around Valdez.
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: 5340793.