Name: High Wind in Alaska, January 3, 2004
Start: 2004-01-03T12:35
End: 2004-01-03T19:55
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 AFG wrote it up.

A slow-moving low pressure center over Far East Russia caused a moderate pressure gradient over the Chukchi Sea. On the afternoon and evening of the 3rd, this gradient was tighter and caused strong south winds to occur at the Cape Lisburne AWOS, where southerly gusts reached 53 knots (61 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 Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 3, 6:00 AM AST, 6 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 3, 6:00 AM AST, 6 hours 35 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM AST SAT JAN 3 2004

.DISCUSSION...

ALOFT...RIDGE BUILDING NORTH INTO WESTERN ALASKA COVERS MOST OF THE
STATE THIS MORNING. THIS RIDGE WILL BE ANCHORED BY A 571 DM HIGH OVER
THE YUKON FLATS BY MONDAY AND WILL MOVE SLOWLY WEST TO THE CHUKOTSK
PENINSULA BY WEDNESDAY. AS THE RIDGE MOVE WESTWARD...LOWER HEIGHTS
WILL SLIDE ACROSS THE STATE FROM EAST TO WEST BY THE END OF THE WEEK
AS A VERY AMPLIFIED PATTERN RETURNS FOR THE LONG RANGE.

SURFACE...SPRAWLING SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE COVERS MOST OF THE STATE
WITH 1053 MB BEING REPORTED AT PABI. CONVERSELY...LOW PRESSURE MOVING
NORTH THROUGH THE CHUKOTSK PENINSULA IS SETTING UP A STRONG PRESSURE
GRADIENT ALONG THE WESTERN COAST AND MARINE ZONES.  THIS LOW WILL
RIDE UP AND OVER THE RIDGE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AFFECTING THE
NORTH SLOPE BY MID WEEK.

ARCTIC COAST...WARMER AIR DRAWN NORTH AHEAD OF THE QUICK MOVING LOW
OVER EASTERN RUSSIA HELPED TEMPERATURES RISE INTO THE 20S ALONG THE
WESTERN ARCTIC COAST TODAY.  AS THE HIGH AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT
BUILDS WESTWARD...COOLER AIR WILL RETURN FROM THE NORTH.  AS THE
ABOVE MENTIONED LOW RIDES OVER THE RIDGE...A STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT
WILL SET ESPECIALLY ALONG THE EASTERN BEAUFORT SEA COAST BY MID WEEK.

WESTERN COAST...WINDS WILL GUST TO 50 MPH NEAR CAPE LISBURNE AND A
HIGH WIND WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED.  MOS NUMBERS WOULD INDICATE GUSTS
UP TO 62 KT BUT WITH THE LOW WELL TO THE WEST AND NO FRONTAL
PASSAGE...WINDS SHOULD REMAIN LOWER THAN THIS.  AS THE HIGH ALOFT AND
AT THE SURFACE MOVES OVER THE REGION...CALM WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

INTERIOR...ANY LEFT OVER LIGHT SNOW ASSOCIATED WITH WEAK WARM SURFACE
ADVECTION WILL BE ENDING TODAY. RELATIVELY MILD 850 TEMPS WITH HIGHER
HEIGHTS AND ONLY WEAK INVERSIONS WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES MODERATE INTO
EARLY WEEK. AS THE RIDGE MOVES WEST OVER RUSSIA BY THE END OF NEXT
WEEK...MUCH LOWER HEIGHTS AND 850 TEMPS MOVE BACK INTO THE REGION.
850 TEMPS OF -32 FORECAST BY THE AVN WOULD SUPPORT TEMPERATURES WELL
INTO THE 40S BELOW BY THE END OF THE WEEK IN THE USUAL CALM VALLEYS
THAT REMAIN FREE OF THE STRATUS ATTACK.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT...ZONE 201 NEAR CAPE
         LISBURNE.
         WIND ADVISORY TODAY AND TONIGHT...ZONE 207 NORTH OF CAPE
         KRUSENSTERN.
MARINE...GALE...14...9B...10B...11
         BRISK WIND ADVISORY...9A...10A

AT JAN 04

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Western Arctic Coast

When: January 3, 12:35 PM AST to 7:55 PM AST
Where: Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 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 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: 5381194.