Alaska, 2003

High Wind in Alaska, October 1, 2003

October 1, 2003 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A strong storm moved into the southwest Gulf of Alaska creating strong winds across the Chugach mountains and especially in the channeled terrain of Turnagain arm. The winds resulted in area wide power outages in the Anchorage bowl on out to Girdwood the morning of October first.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 storm moved into the southwest Gulf of Alaska creating strong winds across the Chugach mountains and especially in the channeled terrain of Turnagain arm. The winds resulted in area wide power outages in the Anchorage bowl on out to Girdwood the morning of October first. Winds for this event peaked at 88 mph at McHugh Creek RWIS at 0451 am AST September 30th. Winds peaked at Glenn Alps at 81 mph at 5 pm AST September 30th. Winds for this event are estimated to peak at 80 mph at the Portage visitor center.

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 Sep 30, 8:00 PM AST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 30, 8:00 PM AST, 4 hours before
SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
900 PM ADT TUE SEP 30 2003

ANALYSIS...ANYONE SMELL THE PINEAPPLES? THERE IS A SOUTH JET AT 250
MB AIMED AT KODIAK ISLAND FROM HAWAII AT 00Z WITH CORE SPEED OF 150
KT. AN EQUALLY STRONG NORTHWESTERLY IS FROM KAMCHATKA TO 32/160W ON
THE BACK SIDE OF A MAJOR UPPER LOW CENTERED NEAR 50/160W. THE SURFACE
LOW IS DOWN TO 972 MB 00Z WITH A SECONDARY CENTER NEAR PAJC 981 MB.
THE OCCLUDED FRONT IS ALONG 153W OR SO UNDER THE JET FOR LOTS OF RAIN
AND STRONG WINDS. THE TEMPERATURE AT 8 PM AT PALMER WAS 66F. THE WEST
COAST RIDGE HAS REARED ITS UGLY HEAD. MEANWHILE EX-TYPHOON KOPPU HAS
A NASTY LOOKING SATELLITE SIGNATURE NEAR 45/157E WHICH NCEP SEZ IS
960 MB. THE CIRRUS SHIELD FROM KOPPU IS ALMOST TO SHEMYA AS OF 03Z.
SEWARD HAS 0.82 INCHES RAIN 00-03Z AND KODIAK HAS 0.53 00-03Z. PAHG
RADAR SHOWS 50-55 DBZ ECHOES ALONG THE MOUNTAINS ON THE WEST SIDE OF
COOK INLET. MCHUGH CREEK ON TURNAGAIN ARM HAS HAD A PEAK WIND OF 85
MPH FOR THE WINNER THIS EVENING.

FORECASTS...WE GOT A QUICK LOOK AT THE NEW ETA AND MESO ETA WHICH ARE
INITIALIZED REASONABLY WELL AND SHOW BIG NUMBERS ON THE WINDS AND
RAIN FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THE FOCUS OF THE RAIN BULLSEYE MOVES BACK
AND FORTH FROM KODIAK TO SEWARD AS PULSES ARRIVE IN THE SOUTHERLY
FLOW. WARM AIR AND LOTS OF RAIN IS GONNA LAST INTO FRIDAY BUT THE
WINDS WILL DIE DOWN AS THE SURFACE LOW TRACKS FARTHER NORTH INTO THE
WESTERN GULF AS IT WEAKENS. GOTTA GO. TOO MANY WARNINGS.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 101 125. FLOOD ADVSRY 121 125 171.
         WIND ADVSRY 111 121 171 161 185 191 195.
MARINE...GALES 2B 3ABC 4 5A 12AB 13 15.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

JC SEP 03

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

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

When
October 1, 12:00 AM AST to 2:53 AM AST
Where
Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Measured
80 kt (92 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When
October 1, 12:00 AM AST to 10:21 AM AST
Where
Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Measured
88 kt (101 mph) measured gust
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.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, October 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: 5374966, 5374967.