High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek
- When
- September 30, 3:51 AM AST to 11:59 PM AST
- Where
- Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
- Measured
- 76 kt (87 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
High Wind in Alaska, September 30, 2003
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. The winds at Portage visitor center are an estimated peak of 80 mph occurring at 253 am AST.
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 29, 8:00 PM AST, 7 hours 51 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 29, 8:00 PM AST, 7 hours 51 minutes before
SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION 900 PM ADT MON SEP 29 2003 ANALYSIS... FORECASTS...A 300 MB JET OVER WILL COME OUT OF THE CENTRAL PACIFC AND MOVE INTO TUESDAY AND WILL PERSIST THERE THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE SERIES OF LOWS AND FRONT DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHERN PACIFIC OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS WILL FOLLOW THE PATH OF THE JET STREAM AND WILL LIE MAINLY OVER WESTERN PART OF THE STATE. THE MAIN 970 MB LOW 250 MILES SOUTH OF COLD BAY WILL REMAIN IN THIS AREA AND WEAKEN TO 991 MB WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE FRONT WILL MOVE NORTH INTO KODIAK ISLAND AND SOUTHERN BRISTOL BAY TONIGHT AND WILL LIE ACROSS THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA, TAYLOR MOUNTAIN AND KODIAK ISLAND TUESDAY AFTERNOON THEN WEAKEN TUESDAY NIGHT. A DEVELOPING LOW ALONG THE FRONT ABOUT 900 MILES SOUTH OF COLD BAY WILL RAPIDLY MOVE NORTH TO 200 MILES SOUTH OF KODIAK ISLAND AND WILL STRENGTHEN TO 983 MB TUESDAY AFTERNOON, THEN WILL MOVE TO NEAR KUSKOKWIM BAY TUESDAY NIGHT AND TO NEAR POINT HOPE AND WEAKEN TO 990 MB WEDNESDAY. KODIAK ISLAND AND THE KENAI PENINSULA WILL REMAIN UNDER A STRONG SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST FLOW FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS WITH NEARLY CONTINUOUS RAIN FALLING THROUGH THE PERIOD. RAIN WILL SPREAD INTO THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR LATE TONIGHT AND WILL PROBABLY CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY. STRONG EAST TO SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL DEVELOP OVER KODIAK ISLAND TUESDAY MORNING AND WILL SPREAD INTO THE KENAI PENINSULA TUESDAY AND INTO THE KUSKOKWIM VALLEY TUESDAY NIGHT. VERY GUSTY WINDS BLOWING OUT OF THE WEST SIDE OF THE CHUGACH AND TALKEETNA MOUNTAIN AND THE ALASKA RANGE WILL DEVELOP LATE TUESDAY AND WILL PERSIST INTO WEDNESDAY. .AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THE HILLSIDE, TURNAGAIN ARM AND THE PORTAGE VALLEY TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. MARINE...GALE WARNING...AREAS 3ABC..5AB..12AB..13..15. FIRE WEATHER...NONE. NM SEP 03
Event by event
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns
- When
- September 30, 4:53 PM AST to 11:59 PM AST
- Where
- Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
- Measured
- 69 kt (79 mph) estimated 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, September 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: 5368395, 5368396.