High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek
- When
- May 9, 3:49 PM AST to May 10, 3:42 AM AST
- Where
- Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
- Measured
- 77 kt (89 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
High Wind in Alaska, May 9 to 10, 2003
A 997 mb low moved into the Bristol Bay area with a front extending through the Kodiak Island area Friday. The increased pressure gradient and channeled terrain resulted in strong southeast winds along the Upper Hillside of Anchorage and along Turnagain Arm.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 997 mb low moved into the Bristol Bay area with a front extending through the Kodiak Island area Friday. The increased pressure gradient and channeled terrain resulted in strong southeast winds along the Upper Hillside of Anchorage and along Turnagain Arm.
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 May 9, 11:00 AM AST, 4 hours 49 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 9, 11:00 AM AST, 4 hours 49 minutes before
SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION 1200 PM ADT FRI MAY 9 2003 ANALYSIS...SURFACE LOW JUST SOUTHWEST OF KODIAK ISLAND ON A NORTHWARD TRACK. ASSOCIATED FRONTAL SYSTEM IN NORTHERN GULF OF ALASKA NEAR THE SOUTH CENTRAL COAST. SECONDARY LOW SOUTHWEST OF DUTCH HARBOR WEAKENING AS IT MOVES EASTWARD. HIGH AMPLITUDE UPPER RIDGE ALONG 138W NORTH ALONG THE CANADIAN ALASKA BORDER. SOUTHERLY BRANCH OF THE POLAR JETSTREAM ALONG THE ALEUTIANS TURNING NORTHEAST ACROSS SOTUH CENTRAL ALASKA. BROAD MOIST SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ACROSS THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF THE MAINLAND. FORECASTS...EASTERN UPPER RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO DRIFT EASTWARD. LOW IN THE NORTHWEST GULF OF ALASKA WEAKENS AND MOVES NORTH INTO THE WESTERN ALASKA. JETSTREAM BECOMES MORE ZONAL WITH TIME. .AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY PUBLIC...NONE. MARINE...GALE 2B..3A..3C..13. FIRE WEATHER...NONE. CAS MAY 03
Event by event
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, May 9, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, May 9, 2003
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 9 to 10, 2003
- Heavy Rain in Missouri, May 9, 2003
- Rip Current in Florida, May 9, 2003
- Rip Current in Florida, May 9, 2003
- Tornadoes and Hail in North Carolina, May 9, 2003
- Flooding in Iowa, May 9 to 28, 2003
- Hail and High Wind in Illinois, May 9 to 10, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Wind in West Virginia, May 9, 2003
- Tornadoes and Hail in Virginia, May 9, 2003
- Tornadoes and Hail in North Carolina, May 9, 2003
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 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: 5351188.