Alaska, 2003

High Wind in Alaska, October 29, 2003

October 29, 2003 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An intensifying low south of the eastern Aleutians rapidly moved across the Dutch Harbor area Tuesday night followed by rapid pressure rises. Two vessels in Cold Bay Harbor reported sudden strong gusty wind with a measured peak gusts by one vessel of 104 mph and another vessel reported 86 mph peak gust.

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.

An intensifying low south of the eastern Aleutians rapidly moved across the Dutch Harbor area Tuesday night followed by rapid pressure rises. Two vessels in Cold Bay Harbor reported sudden strong gusty wind with a measured peak gusts by one vessel of 104 mph and another vessel reported 86 mph peak gust.

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 Oct 28, 9:00 PM AST, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 28, 9:00 PM AST, 7 hours before
SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
900 PM AST TUE OCT 28 2003

.DISCUSSION...5 WAVE 500 MB PATTERN ON OOZ ANALYSIS.  HIGH BUILDS
OVER AK NEXT 24 HRS THEN REMAINS STATIONARY AS LONG WAVE ANCHOR OVER
FAR EAST AND TROFF OVER WESTERN US HOLD THROUGH 120 HRS. AT 120 HRS
AVN TRYING TO BUILD A HIGH OVER THE MIDDLE EAST THAT ALMOST MIRRORS
THE AK HIGH. LOOKS PRETTY ODD.

ON THE AK SCALE ETA AND AVN CLOSE FOR EASTERN ZONES.  AVN STRONGER
AND FASTER WITH BERING LOW. STILL NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE.  WILL USE ETA
FOR EASTERN COORDINATION AND AVN OUT WEST.

TONIGHT ON THE LOCAL SCALES JUST A FEW UPDATES. PADU WINDS COMING UP
FASTER THAN FORECAST. DENSE FOG REAPPEARED IN PAAQ A FEW HOURS AGO.
SHOULD SEE IT AGAIN IN PANC BEFORE TOO LONG AS ONLY 0 TO 2 DEGREE
T/TD SEPARATION IN LAST FEW HOURS. PAVW IS PUTTING OUT NEW NOW
WITHOUT THE WIND ADVISORY. ZONE WORDED FOR WINDS COMING DOWN THIS
EVENING LOOKS RIGHT ON.  EXPECT GUSTY WINDS THROUGH THOMPSON PASS
UNTIL MORNING WHEN TEMP GRADIENT FINALLY WEAKENS. DONT EXPECT GUSTS
OVER 35 MPH. WILL UPDATE PAVW AND PACV ZONES AFTER TAFS. UPDATED
MARINE AREA 3A FOR BARGE OBSERVATION.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...STORMS 5B 6B. GALES 5A 6A 8 12A 12A1 13 15.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

KAC OCT 03

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When
October 29, 4:00 AM AST to 3:30 PM AST
Where
Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured
90 kt (104 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: 5374974.