Alaska, 2004

High Wind in Alaska, January 13 to 15, 2004

January 13 to 15, 2004 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Building high pressure over interior Alaska combined with moderate low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska resulted in the typically strong outflow winds along the Chugach mountains. Winds are estimated to have peaked around 80 mph out of the channeled terrain of northern Prince William sound based upon surface observations and satellite interpretation.

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.

Building high pressure over interior Alaska combined with moderate low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska resulted in the typically strong outflow winds along the Chugach mountains. Winds are estimated to have peaked around 80 mph out of the channeled terrain of northern Prince William sound based upon surface observations and satellite interpretation. Valdez Airport measure winds gusts peaking at 70 mph.

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 Jan 13, 12:45 PM AST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 13, 12:45 PM AST, 4 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION SOUTHWEST ALASKA
1245 PM AST TUE JAN 13 2004

.DISCUSSION...UPPER LEVEL LOW GAINING STRENGTH OVER THE SOUTH CENTRAL
COAST NEAR CORDOVA. RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALEUTIANS WITH
A TROUGH IN THE WESTERN BERING. UPPER LEVEL LOW TO SLOWLY DRIFT INTO
THE NORTHERN GULF IN THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS AND EVENTUALLY LIFT INTO
CANADA ON THURSDAY. THIS IS DUE TO THE HUDSON BAY LOW SWINGING INTO
THE NORTH ATLANTIC ALLOWING THE WEST COAST RIDGE TO SLUMP A BIT. THE
UPPER LEVEL LOW IS QUICKLY FILLED BACK BY A VORT MAX WHICH IS
CURRENTLY OVER THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS GOING OVER THE TOP OF THE BERING
SEA RIDGE AND DROPPING INTO THE NOW ELONGATED TROUGH OVER EASTERN
ALASKA AND NORTHWESTERN CANADA. THE NEWLY DEVELOPED UPPER LEVEL LOW
WILL THEN START TO SLOWLY DRIFT SOUTHWEST OVER THE WEEKEND.

THE VORT MAX CURRENTLY OVER THE WESTERN ALEUTIAN CHAIN AND ITS
ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW WILL LIFT NORTH THROUGH THE BERING TODAY AND
TOMORROW BRINGING AREAS OF HIGHER WINDS AND SEAS. A SURFACE TROUGH
WILL REMAIN ALONG THE DATELINE WITH THE UPPER LEVEL LOW SWINGING INTO
THE NORTHWEST PACIFIC. A SURFACE LOW WILL EVENTUALLY DEVELOP OVER THE
NORTHERN PACIFIC UNDER THIS LOW BY THURSDAY. THE LOW WILL TRACK
AROUND THE UPPER LEVEL LOW AND PUSH INTO THE WESTERN ALEUTIAN CHAIN
OVER THE WEEKEND.

A SURFACE TROUGH IS ALSO DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHERN GULF AS A
RESULT OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC LOW MOVING INTO THE PANHANDLE THIS
MORNING IN ADDITION TO THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE SOUTH CENTRAL
GULF COAST. SHOWERS ARE WRAPPING UP THE EAST SIDE OF THE LOW WITH
SOME SNOW ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED FROM CORDOVA TO GLENNALLEN EASTWARD
AND OVER THE CHUGACH AND ALASKA RANGE. THIS SURFACE TROUGH TO REMAIN
OVER THE NORTHERN GULF. THE SURFACE HIGH IN COMBINATION WITH THE
UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL HELP TO PUSH COLDER AIR SOUTH AND WEST THROUGH
SOUTHERN AND WESTERN ALASKA. THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT CAUSED BY
THESE TWO FEATURES WILL ALLOW FOR MODERATE TO STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS
TO BE SUSTAINED ALONG THE SOUTH CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STATE. GUSTIER
WINDS ARE EXPECTED IN GAPS IN TERRAIN.

.AER...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE
MARINE...STORM 3A
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 2BC 2B1 2C4 3AC 4
         GALE 2B 2B1 2C4
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

JN JAN 04

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Nern P.W. Snd

When
January 13, 5:15 PM AST to January 15, 2:00 AM AST
Where
Nern P.W. Snd 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 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 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: 5381928.