Taku winds impacted downtown Juneau and Douglas during these times. Peak wind gusts for the initial event included 72 mph at the Douglas Boat Harbor, 78 mph at the Juneau Tram, and 67 mph at the Juneau Rock Dump.
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.
Taku winds impacted downtown Juneau and Douglas during these times. Peak wind gusts for the initial event included 72 mph at the Douglas Boat Harbor, 78 mph at the Juneau Tram, and 67 mph at the Juneau Rock Dump. On New Year's Eve, Taku winds surfaced only for a brief period, but South Douglas Island measured hurricane force wind gusts to 78 mph. Minor damage was 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 29, 6:30 AM AST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
630 AM AST WED DEC 29 2004
.SYNOPSIS...
.SHORT RANGE...LOW OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA MOVING SOUTH
TO BE SOUTH OF THE GULF BY ABOUT MIDDAY (WEDNESDAY). HIGH
PRESSURE OVER THE ALASKAN INTERIOR AND NORTHWEST CANADA BUILDING
AND EXPANDING SOUTH ACROSS THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE. A SIGNIFICANT
PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE COAST MOUNTAINS AND OVER THE
NORTHERN CHANNELS. VERY STRONG WINDS GUSTING OUT OF THE INTERIOR
PASSES OFF AKZ017>020 AND 025 TODAY. TAKU WINDS IN THE JUNEAU
AREA BEGINNING TO GUST NEAR 60 MPH THIS MORNING ARE EXPECTED TO
GET OVER 70 MPH THIS AFTERNOON AND OVER NIGHT INTO THURSDAY.
THE STRONG WINDS AROUND WHITE PASS CAUSING BLIZZARD CONDITIONS
WHICH SHOULD LAST THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT.
A FEW FLURRIES POSSIBLE OVER THE BORDER AREAS WITH UPSLOPE WINDS
FORMING CLOUDS OVER THE YUKON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA MAY SPILL INTO
THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF AKZ018 AND 019. ANOTHER POSSIBILITY OF
LIGHT SNOW POSSIBLY MIXED WITH RAIN WILL BE OVER THE MISTY FJORDS
AREA. A BAND OF CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAK TROUGH ALOFT WILL
ROTATE WEST ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE PANHANDLE THIS
LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THURSDAY.
OTHERWISE EXPECT DRY CONDITIONS ACROSS SOUTHEAST ALASKA. COLD
AIR SPILLING INTO THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE WITH THE GUSTY NORTHERLY
WINDS INTO THE PANHANDLE. SHELTERED LOCATIONS WILL GET THE
COLDEST TEMPERATURES WHERE THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF NEAR
SINGLE DIGITS OVER THE NORTHERN TIER AREA. COLDER TEMPERATURES
EXPECTED AFTER THE FIRST THREE PERIODS.
.LONG RANGE...STILL LOOKING COLD AND DRY FOR THE MOST PART INTO
THE UPCOMING WEEKEND...WITH SOME MODERATION IN TEMPS EARLY NEXT
WEEK. STRONG RIDGE WILL REMAIN TO THE WEST OF THE AREA...WITH
STRONG SFC HIGH OVER NW CANADA INTO SAT. WINDS WILL BE THE BIG
ISSUE DURING THE LATE WEEK PERIOD...THEN WINDS SHOULD DIMINISH BY
LATE IN THE WEEKEND. WILL LIKELY HAVE ADVY LEVEL WINDS IN THE
TYPICALLY WINDIER AREAS UNTIL FRI AT LEAST...WITH LOCALIZED
WARNING LEVEL WINDS POSSIBLE THRU FRI FOR THE PAJN TAKU WIND
AREAS.
MODELS BEGIN TO DIVERGE SOME TOWARD LATE IN THE FORECAST PERIOD
AND JUST AFTER. MAIN DIFFERENCE IS THEIR HANDLING OF THE RIDGE
THAT WILL BE JUST WEST OF THE AREA DURING THE LONGER RANGE
PERIOD. 00Z GFS WANTS TO BUILD IT MORE STRONGLY THAN THE
ECMWF/UKMET DO...THEN RETROGRADE IT TO THE WEST AND ALLOW ANOTHER
COLD PLUNGE JUST AFTER THE CURRENT FORECAST PERIOD ENDS. THE
ECMWF/UKMET BUILD IT LESS AND ALLOW SW FLOW TO BREAK THE RIDGE
DOWN SLOWLY AND LOOK LIKE THEY WOULD WARM US UP...AT LEAST
TEMPORARILY. 06Z GFS RUN CAME IN CLOSE TO ECMWF/UKMET IDEA...SO
THINKING HERE IS A CONTINUED MODERATION TREND FOR MID AND LATE
NEXT WEEK.
.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING NEAR INTERIOR PASSES AKZ017 THROUGH
TONIGHT
...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR STRONG WINDS JUNEAU AND DOUGLAS
AREA INTO THURSDAY (AKZ025)
...BLIZZARD WARNING AKZ018 KLONDIKE HIGHWAY NEAR WHITE PASS
...WIND ADVISORIES FOR AKZ019>024-026
MARINE...STORM WARNING PKZ011-021-022-031
...GALE WARNING PKZ012-013-032-042>052
...SMALL CRAFT PKZ033>041
BMB/RWT2 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: 5428228, 5428229.