A 971mb low, just off Cape Suckling, spread a strong front up through Southeast Alaska on this date. High winds were able to surface in most locations and resulted in extensive damage, power and phone outages.
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.
The episode as NWS AJK wrote it up.
A 971mb low, just off Cape Suckling, spread a strong front up through Southeast Alaska on this date. High winds were able to surface in most locations and resulted in extensive damage, power and phone outages. In Sitka, the roof was blown off an apartment complex, and a house boat sank in the harbor. In Juneau, a large tree fell into the roof of a home on Lena Point. The AMHS fast ferry Fairweather was severely damaged while returning from Haines to Juneau. Gale force sustained winds were occurring in Lynn Canal and wave heights were estimated to be near 12 feet. Most Alaska Airlines flights in and out of Southeast Alaska were cancelled. Large, mature Hemlock and Spruce trees were downed in many communities. Fortunately no injuries were reported.
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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 15, 11:00 AM AST, 16 hours 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1100 AM AST WED DEC 15 2004
.SYNOPSIS...AN OMEGA BLOCK AXIS EXTENDS FROM THE ARCTIC ABOVE
NORTHWEST AK TO THE YUKON TERRITORY. SE AK WILL REMAIN IN
RELATIVELY WARM SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WITH A SERIES OF SHORTWAVE
TROFS AND RIDGES MOVING THROUGH THE AREA THROUGH NEXT WED.
.SHORT RANGE...TWO POTENT SYSTEMS MOVING THROUGH THE FORECAST
AREA TODAY AND THU. FIRST FRONT JUST OFFSHORE THIS MORNING WITH
SERIES OF FRONTAL WAVES MOVING ALONG FRONT. ONE STRONG WAVE OFF
SOUTHERN PANHANDLE AT 18Z GIVING ADVISORY LEVEL WINDS TO SOUTHERN
ZONES BUT THOSE SHOULD BE PEAKING OUT THIS MORNING THEN RELAXING
INTO THE AFTERNOON. LOTS OF WARM AIR MOVING INTO THE AREA FROM
THESE SYSTEMS SO MOST PLACES WILL BE ALL RAIN. EXCEPTION IS
PAHN/PAGY ZONES WHERE WINDS WILL REMAIN OUT OF THE NORTH INTO
THIS AFTERNOON. SO SNOW ADVISORY WILL CONTINUE FOR PAHN ZONE
TODAY BUT HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR PAYA ZONE. SNOW CHANGING TO RAIN
FOR PAHN/PAGY BY TONIGHT.
VERY LITTLE BREAK EXPECTED IN PRECIP BETWEEN TODAYS FRONT AND
STRONGER SYSTEM MOVING IN FOR EARLY THU. NCEP MODELS ARE IN FAIR
AGREEMENT ON TRACK TOWARD PAYA FOR LOW CENTER THU AFTERNOON...BUT
AVN IS STRONGER AND FASTER. FORECASTS BASED ON ETA TIMING BUT A
LITTLE DEEPER. WITH THAT TRACK AND DEPTH SEE NO REASON TO CHANGE
HIGH WIND WARNINGS THAT ARE OUT FOR COASTAL ZONES...22 23 27...
AND ZONE 28. LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE EARLY THU SO WILL LIKELY ISSUE
WARNINGS IN AFTERNOON PACKAGE. STRONG WINDS MOVING UP INTO THE
CENTRAL PANHANDLE THU AFTERNOON AND EVENTUALLY TO NORTHERN ZONES
...BUT WILL REMAIN AT ADVISORY LEVEL.
.LONG RANGE...A FRONT WILL MOVE INLAND THROUGH THE NORTHERN
PANHANDLE AND EASTERN GULF COAST FRIDAY.
A 978 MB LOW 300 NM SOUTH OF KODIAK WILL INTENSIFY TO 966 MB AND
MOVE INLAND NEAR THE KENAI PENINSULA SAT...BRINGING A STRONG
FRONT THROUGH SE AK FRI NIGHT INTO SAT.
A STRONGER RIDGE WILL GIVE A BRIEF COOLER DRIER BREAK SUN NIGHT
WITH -6C AT 850 MB INTO THE FAR NORTHERN PANHANDLE. THEN THE
MOIST WARMER SUBTROPICALLY CONNECTED STREAM CONTINUES MON THROUGH
WED.
.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...SNOW ADVISORY ZONE 19 TODAY.
MARINE...GALE...MOST ZONES TODAY AND AGAIN THU.
STORM...PKZ041 042 043 051 THU.8 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2004
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: 5428216, 5428214, 5428213, 5428211, 5428212, 5428215, 5428210, 5428209.