High Wind in Alaska, April 14 to 15, 2004

Name: High Wind in Alaska, April 14 to 15, 2004
Start: 2004-04-14T19:30
End: 2004-04-15T07:53
Location: Alaska

April 14 to 15, 2004 · NWS AFC · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

An unusually intense spring storm moved into the eastern Bering sea April 14th. This storm resulted in strong wind in advance of the associated front as the front swept across the eastern Aleutians to the Alaska Peninsula and stalled along the Bering sea coast.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

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 Apr 14, 4:00 PM AST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 14, 4:00 PM AST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 PM ADT WED APR 14 2004

.DISCUSSION...SOME AREAS OF RAIN SNOW AND FOG ARE STILL HANGING
AROUND THE BRISTOL BAY COAST AND KUSKOKWIM DELTA...THE MAIN STORY IS
THE 970 MB LOW CENTERED NEAR ADAK THIS AFTERNOON. THIS LOW WILL
CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN SOME AS IT MOVES TO 65 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ST
MATTHEW ISLAND THURSDAY AFTERNOON. THIS LOW HAS TWO AREAS OF CONCERN
AS FAR AS THE WINDS GO. THE FIRST AREA CONSISTS OF THE STRONG SOUTH
WINDS ALONG THE FRONT AHEAD OF THE LOW. THESE WINDS SHOULD BE
STRONGEST IN THE UNALASKA AREA WHERE THEY HAVE TRIGGERED A HIGH WIND
WARNING. THE ALASKA PENINSULA WEST OF SAND POINT ALSO HAS A HIGH WIND
WARNING WITH THIS FRONT TONIGHT. STRONG WINDS ALONG THIS FRONT WILL
MOVE INTO THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS THIS EVENING...BUT THEY ARE EXPECTED
TO STAY BELOW WARNING LEVELS. THE SECOND AREA OF PROBLEM WINDS IN IN
THE COLD ADVECTION ON THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE LOW. THESE WINDS ARE
EXPECTED TO GUST UP TO 85 MPH FROM KISKA TO NIKOLSKI TONIGHT.
QUIKSCAT IMAGERY SHOWS THAT THESE WINDS ARE ALREADY AT A FULL GALE
AND THE SYSTEM IS STILL WINDING UP AND NOT INTO THE TRUE COLD AIR
ADVECTION YET. THESE WEST AND SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL MOVE INTO THE
UNALASKA AREA LATE TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING. HIGH WIND WARNINGS
COVER THESE AREAS FOR THIS EVENT.
THE BIG QUESTION MARK IS THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS THURSDAY. THE ARE ON
THE CUSP OF NEEDING A WATCH OR WARNING FOR THE SOUTHWEST WINDS
TOMORROW.

AVN AND ETA HAVE THE SAME GENERAL PATTERN BUT ETA SEEMS TO BE
UNDERESTIMATING THE STRENGTH OF THIS LOW. I HAVE BEEN USING THE AVN
FOR GUIDANCE IN ISSUING THE HIGH WIND WARNINGS.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 181 185 191.
MARINE...GALE 6A 13B.
         STORM 5B 6B 8 12A 12A1 13A 14 15.
         HURRICANE FORCE 12B.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

EZ APR 04

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Eastern Aleutians

When: April 14, 7:30 PM AST to 8:56 PM AST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 66 kt (76 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Western Aleutians

When: April 14, 8:30 PM AST to 9:00 PM AST
Where: Western Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 66 kt (76 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When: April 15, 6:45 AM AST to 7:30 AM AST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Pribilof Islands

When: April 15, 6:53 AM AST to 7:53 AM AST
Where: Pribilof Islands forecast zone
Measured: 67 kt (77 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

Every storm in Alaska in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, April 2004

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: 5387270, 5387271, 5387269, 5387272.