Name: High Wind in Alaska, January 2 to 3, 2004
Start: 2004-01-02T02:00
End: 2004-01-03T15:00
Location: Alaska

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.

A strong high pressure system over interior Alaska combined with moderate low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska indicated that winds were gusting an estimated 80 mph out of the Copper River. Satellite analysis also supports wind estimates of approximately 80 mph in ths data void area.

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 1, 9:00 PM AST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 1, 9:00 PM AST, 5 hours before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
900 PM AST THU JAN 1 2004

.DISCUSSION...LONG WAVE BLOCK PATTERN SETTING FRIDAY THROUGH THE
WEEKEND. MASSIVE COLD CORE LOW OVER ASIA WITH ANOTHER SMALLER ONE
JUST NORTHWEST OF HUDSON BAY. THE HUDSON BAY LOW HAS AN EXTENSION
INTO THE SOUTHERN GULF. A HIGH PRESSURE CENTER LOCATED OVER ALASKA.
THE AXIS OF THE HIGH PRESSURE TO SLOWLY SHIFT WEST AS A WAVE MOVES
OVER THE TOP AND DOWN THE OTHER SIDE MONDAY NIGHT/TUESDAY.

CURRENTLY...SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE INTERIOR WITH A
SURFACE TROUGH ALONG THE GULF COAST. THIS IS SETTING UP A STRONG
NORTH-SOUTH PRESSURE GRADIENT FOR INCREASED GAP FLOW. UPPER LEVEL AND
INCREASED SURFACE SUPPORT TO ARRIVE AFTER THE WEAK SHORT TROUGH
PUSHES INTO THE GULF LATER TONIGHT. THIS IS DUE TO THE WINDS ALOFT
TURNING NORTHEAST AND WEAK UPPER LOW ACCENTUATING THE SURFACE TROUGH
OVER THE NORTHERN GULF. THE GRADIENT TO REMAIN THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT.
GRADIENT TO RELAX OVER THE NORTHERN GULF AS THE UPPER LOW SINKS INTO
THE SOUTHERN GULF SATURDAY.

ACROSS THE WEST...SURFACE TROUGH AXIS TO REMAIN NEAR 170E THROUGH
SATURDAY AS A SHORT WAVE LIFTS NORTH OVER THE HIGH. THIS HAS CREATED
A GOOD SURFACE GRADIENT FOR MODERATE TO STRONG SOUTHEAST WINDS AROUND
THE HIGH IN THE SOUTHERN BERING TO THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS. ANOTHER
SHORT WAVE TROUGH WORKS INTO THE KAMCHATKA REGION SUNDAY TIGHTENING
THE GRADIENT ONCE AGAIN.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT 131
         HIGH WIND WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT 135
MARINE...HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 2B1 2C 2C4 3AC
         GALE 2BC 2B1 2C4 3ABC 12B 13 15
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

JN JAN 04

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Sern P.W. Snd

When: January 2, 2:00 AM AST to January 3, 3:00 PM AST
Where: Sern 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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5381920.