High Wind in Alaska, March 9, 2004

Name: High Wind in Alaska, March 9, 2004
Start: 2004-03-09T10:45
End: 2004-03-09T22:00
Location: Alaska

March 9, 2004 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A frontal system moving north toward the Alaska Range produced strong winds, as reported by the following U. S.

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 frontal system moving north toward the Alaska Range produced strong winds, as reported by the following U. S. Army Mesonet sites: Texas Condo: gusts to 60 knots (66 mph); OP10A: gusts to 52 knots (60 mph); Texas Range: gusts to 55 knots (63 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 Mar 9, 6:00 AM AST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 9, 6:00 AM AST, 4 hours 45 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM AST TUE MAR 9 2004

.DISCUSSION...
UPPER AIR: LOW PRESSURE WILL ROTATE NEAR 81N/125W THROUGH
SATURDAY. LOW PRESSURE NEAR 52N/179E WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AND WILL
BE OVER CAPE ROMANZOF THURSDAY EVENING. A RIDGE ALONG THE NORTH
SLOPE WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN AND  A COUPLE OF TROUGHS WILL ROTATE
SOUTHWARD TO THE NORTH SLOPE THIS WEEK. A RIDGE NORTH OVER WESTERN
CANADA WILL COMBINE WITH THE BERING SEA LOW AND PRODUCE SOUTH TO
SOUTHWEST FLOW OVER INTERIOR ALASKA.

SURFACE: A 973 MB LOW NEAR SAINT PAUL ISLAND AND A 969 MB LOW 120
MILES NORTHWEST OF ADAK WILL BOTH MOVE NORTHEAST. AT 3PM AST THIS
AFTERNOON THE TWO LOW WILL BE 976 MB 120 MILES NORTHWEST OF SAINT
PAUL ISLAND AND 973 MB 150 MILES NORTH OF ADAK. A NEW LOW WILL BE
984 MB 50 MILES SOUTH OF HOMER WITH AN OCCLUDED FRONT EXTENDING
WEST TO THE 976 MB LOW. AT 3AM WEDNESDAY A 979 MB LOW WILL BE NEAR
SAINT PAUL ISLAND AND A 995 MB LOW WILL BE NEAR FAIRBANKS WITH A
DISSIPATING OCCLUDED FRONT CONNECTING THE TWO LOWS. AT 3AM
THURSDAY A 988 MB LOW WILL BE 90 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CAPE ROMANZOF
AND A 1000 MB LOW WILL BE 100 MILES SOUTHWEST OF YAKUTAT. A RIDGE
FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE NORTH SLOPE WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

NORTH SLOPE: WINDS WILL BE LIGHT FROM THE NORTHERN ARCTIC COAST TO
THE EASTERN BEAUFORT SEA COAST. NORTHEAST WINDS WILL BEGIN TO PICK
UP OVER THE WESTERN ARCTIC COAST WEDNESDAY AS LOW PRESSURE NEAR
THE PRIBILOFS MOVES NORTH. FLURRIES AND PATCHY FOG WILL CONTINUE.
A TROUGH OR TWO MAY MOVE SOUTH OVER THE NORTHERN ARCTIC COAST THIS
WEEK...BUT ONLY FLURRIES SHOULD BE EXPECTED.

WEST COAST: BRISK WINDS OVER AREAS 9A AND 9B WILL OCCUR AS LOW
PRESSURE OVER THE PRIBLOFS MOVES NORTH. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW WILL GENERALLY BE LESS THAN 2 INCHES.
MODERATE EAST WINDS OVER EASTERN NORTON SOUND SHOULD PRODUCE
BLOWING SNOW IN ADDITION TO FALLING SNOW. FLURRIES WILL LINGER
THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT.

INTERIOR: SNOWFALL WILL GENERALLY BE LESS THAN 2 INCHES WITH THE
GREATEST AMOUNTS OVER THE WESTERN INTERIOR. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST
FLOW WILL MEAN A SIGNIFICANT WARMING. THE SOUTHEASTERN INTERIOR
WILL BE LARGELY SHADOWED BY THE ALASKA RANGE.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...BRISK WIND ADVISORY AREA 9A NORTON SOUND.
         BRISK WIND ADVISORY AREA 9B DALL POINT TO WALES.

DA MAR 04

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng

When: March 9, 10:45 AM AST to 10:00 PM AST
Where: Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 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

Every storm in Alaska in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, March 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: 5388112.