High Wind in Alaska, October 1 to 2, 2003

Name: High Wind in Alaska, October 1 to 2, 2003
Start: 2003-10-01T00:00
End: 2003-10-02T15:00
Location: Alaska

October 1 to 2, 2003 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Event continued from September. Several weather systems moving north over Alaska from the Gulf of Alaska produced a periods of strong winds across the Alaska Range.

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 AFG wrote it up.

Event continued from September. Several weather systems moving north over Alaska from the Gulf of Alaska produced a periods of strong winds across the Alaska Range. In zone 226, One of the mesonet meteorological stations (Texas Range) maintained by the U.S. Army reported winds as high as 71 mph. Delta Junction ASOS in zone 223 reported a peak gust of 56 mph, and Healy in zone 225 reported a peak gust of 52 mph, at each place no injuries or damage was reported.

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 Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 30, 1:30 PM AST, 10 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 30, 1:30 PM AST, 10 hours 30 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM ADT TUE SEP 30 2003

THE MODELS ARE COMING CLOSER IN LINE WITH EACH OTHER TODAY AS ETA
NEW RUN KEEPS THE LOW MOVING INTO THE BERING SEA DEEPER THAN
PREVIOUSLY ADVERTISED. THIS IS MORE IN LINE WITH THE AVN MODEL.

MASSIVE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER ALASKA WILL BRING NEAR RECORD
WARMTH TO MANY PLACES IN THE INTERIOR FOR TUE AND WED. MEANWHILE A
RELATIVELY DEEP 971 MB LOW SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE TO
NEAR NUNIVAK ISLAND BY LATE TUE NIGHT. THIS COMBINATION WILL
WARRANT WATCHING HIGH WIND CRITERIA IN THE ALASKA RANGE.

VERY STRONG WINDS WILL BE NOTICED ALONG THE NORTHERN WEST COAST
WITH THE STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT.

THE MOISTURE FEED OVER THE WEST COAST AREAS IS ORIGINATING NEAR
HAWAII. OVER THIS FETCH...ABUNDANT MOISTURE WILL BE SUPPLIED WEST
OF THE ALASKA RANGE THROUGH TONIGHT. THE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS
WILL BE ENHANCED ALONG THE SOUTHERN SLOPES OF THE BROOKS RANGE.

AS THE LOW MOVES INTO NORTON SOUND ON WED MORNING THE DRY SLOT
DEVELOPS OVER MUCH OF THE WEST COAST FOR WED.

ARCTIC COAST...SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL WILL OCCUR OVER MUCH OF THE
AREA WEST OF BARROW LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY WED MORNING AS THE WARM
FRONT MOVES NORTHWARD. COLDER AIR WILL MOVE BACK INTO THE AREA BY
THU NIGHT.

WEST COAST...SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION WILL SPREAD OVER MUCH OF
THE WEST COAST THROUGH TONIGHT AND DIMINISH ON WED AS THE DRY SLOT
TAKES HOLD. AS THE LOW MOVES NORTH OF NORTON SOUND IT WILL WRAP
SOMEWHAT COLDER AIR BACK INTO THE WEST COAST ON THU.

INTERIOR...NEAR RECORD WARMTH FOR TODAY AND WED OVER THE EASTERN
AND CENTRAL INTERIOR. IT APPEARS WINDS WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH FOR A
WARNING IN THE ALASKA RANGE. STRONG SOUTH FLOW WILL BE THE RULE
THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND LITTLE IF
ANY PRECIPITATION...EXCEPT FOR THE SOUTH SLOPES OF THE BROOKS
RANGE.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING...225..226.
MARINE...STORM..WRN 11A. GALE...14..9B..10B..ERN 11A.
         SCA...11B..9A..10A

CF SEP 03

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng

When: October 1, 12:00 AM AST to October 2, 3:00 PM AST
Where: Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng forecast zone
Measured: 62 kt (71 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

Every storm in Alaska in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5371986.