Alaska, 2004

High Wind in Alaska, January 27, 2004

January 27, 2004 · NWS AJK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 1035 mb high over northern British Columbia combined with a trough in the Gulf of Alaska to create a strong offshore pressure gradient. Taku winds redeveloped in the downtown Juneau and Douglas areas on this date.

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 AJK wrote it up.

A 1035 mb high over northern British Columbia combined with a trough in the Gulf of Alaska to create a strong offshore pressure gradient. Taku winds redeveloped in the downtown Juneau and Douglas areas on this date. Wind gusts at the Juneau Rock Dump reached 60 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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 27, 10:45 AM AST, 10 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 27, 10:45 AM AST, 10 hours 15 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1045 AM AST TUE JAN 27 2004

.SYNOPSIS...
.SHORT RANGE...UPDATES THIS MORNING INCLUDED BLIZZARD WARNING FOR
THE KLONDIKE HIGHWAY.  WE ARE PLANNING ANOTHER UPDATE OF THE
PUBLIC ZONES BY NOON TO ADDRESS CANCELING SOME WIND ADVISORIES.

989MB LOW WILL TRACK ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GULF OVER THE NEXT 24
HOURS AND MOVE THROUGH THE CHARLOTTES LATE TONIGHT.  ASSOCIATED
FRONT SPREADS SNOW INTO THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE.  THIS FRONT
WEAKENS WEDNESDAY AND SNOWFALL ACROSS THE SOUTH WILL DIMINISH.
FOR THIS AFTERNOONS FORECAST WILL ASSESS IF SNOW ADVISORIES ARE
NEEDED IN OUR SOUTHERN ZONES.

FARTHER NORTH IN THE PANHANDLE ONLY IMPACT FROM THE
AFOREMENTIONED SYSTEM WILL BE HIGH CLOUDS.  OFFSHORE GRADIENT
WILL BRIEFLY TIGHTEN AGAIN THIS EVENING IN OUR NORTHERN INNER
CHANNELS FOR BORDERLINE HIGH WIND EVENT (TAKU AND LYNN CANAL).
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ON THE KLONDIKE COULD CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT
DUE TO THE NORTHERLY GRADIENT TIGHTENING.  WINDS WILL GRADUALLY
DECREASE LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AS THE OFFSHORE GRADIENT
WEAKENS.

.LONG RANGE...UPR TROF ACRS THE N PAC WL MOV EWD OVR THE BC CST
THRU 12Z FRI.  A FLAT RDG WL BLD OVR THE GLF AK THRU FRI AFTN.
A SCND IMPULS WL SHARPEN AND BLD THE RDG OVR THE ERN GLF AK AND
SE AK.  THIS WL PUT ALL SE AK AND ERN GLF AK IN SWLY FLOW ALF BY
SUN MRNG.  THE MRF SHOWS A S/W TROF MOVG OVR THE RDG ACRS SE AK
ON MON AND MON NGT.

A SFC LOW OVR THE N PAC WED EVENG WL MOV NEWD OVR THE N BC CST
THRU THU AFTN.  THERE WL BE SOME ASSOCD MSTR SPRDG NWD BUT IT MAY
NOT PROD MUCH PCPN...SPCLY NRN PHNDL.  THE LOW WL MOV INLD THRU
FRI MRNG W/ A WK RDG BLDG OVR THE GLF AK AT ALL LVLS.

A STG STRM WL MOV OVR THE WRN ALEUTAIN CHAIN THU AFTN AND DRFT
OVR THE CNTRL CHAIN THRU FRI.  THE ASSOCD FNTL SYS WL PUSH FAR
AHD OF THE LOW OVR THE WRN GLF AK THRU FRI AFTN.  THE FNLT SYS
SHLD WKN AND PROB DSIPT THRU SAT MRNG.

A SCNDRY LOW WL DVLP ARND MAIN ALEUTAIN CHAIN LOW AND MOV NEWD
OVR THE WRN GLF AK.  ATTM THE AVN SGSTS THAT THIS LOW WL MOV OVR
BRISTOL BAY BUT XPCT IT TO MOV OVR THE WRN GLF AK.  THIS IS A
BIT FARTHER W THAT THE OLD RUN OF THE MRF.

.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING INTO TONIGHT AKZ018.
         WIND ADVISORIES TODAY AND TONIGHT AKZ025.
         WIND ADVISORIES TODAY AKZ017+019-022+026+029.
MARINE...GALES INTO TONIGHT ALL ZONES XCP SCA PKZ011+033.
         HVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING ALL INNER CHANNELS + PKZ043.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Juneau Borough and Northern Admiralty Island

When
January 27, 9:00 PM AST to 11:00 PM AST
Where
Juneau Borough and Northern Admiralty Island forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) measured 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: 5387560.