Name: High Wind in Alaska, February 15 to 16, 2005
Start: 2005-02-15T15:00
End: 2005-02-16T16:00
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

An intense North Pacific low moved into the eastern Aleutians Tuesday and Wednesday February 15th and 16th. Wind peaked around 100 mph in the Fox Islands and were reported gusting to 92 mph in the mouth of Cold Bay.

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 Feb 15, 5:00 AM AST, 10 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 15, 5:00 AM AST, 10 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 AM AST TUE FEB 15 2005

.DISCUSSION...

THE MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THIS MORNING OUT THROUGH 48 HOURS
BUT THEY GO THERE SEPARATE WAYS AFTER THAT IN THE WESTERN AREAS AND
BERING SEA.  WE WENT THE GFS AFTER 48HRS.  WITH THE HIGH PRESSURE IN
THE EAST THERE IS NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE IN THE MODELS.

FOR THE UPPER LEVEL THE ANCHOR LOW OVER THE KAMCHATKA PENINSULA
CONTINUES HOLD STRONG THROUGH THURSDAY. THE RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN
SECTION CONTINUES BUILDING WITH ITS AXIS TILTING WELL INTO
SOUTHCENTRAL BY SATURDAY.

AT THE SURFACE THE OLD LOW IN THE WESTERN BERING SEA IS ROTATING TO
THE SOUTH AND WEST WHILE THE NEXT PLAYER A 969 MB LOW MOVES ACROSS
THE ALEUTIANS JUST WEST OF DUTCH HARBOR THIS MORNING. IT WILL
CONTINUE TO SLOWLY WEAKEN AN MOVE TO NEAR SAINT PAUL BY WEDNESDAY
NIGHT.

BY THIS AFTERNOON THE OLD FRONT MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHCENTRAL WILL
BE OUT OF OUR AOR. HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE IN THE NORTH AND EAST
SECTIONS OF THE COOPER RIVER ZONE THIS MORNING BUT FOR MOST OTHER
AREAS IN THE EAST WE CAN EXPECT DECREASING CLOUDS AND SOME SNOW
SHOWERS IN THE EASTERN AREAS. ALONG EASTERN GULF COAST RAIN AND SNOW
CONTINUES THIS MORNING BUT WILL BE CUTTING OFF BY AFTERNOON.

IN THE WEST ZONES RAIN AND RAIN GALES AND STROM FORCE WIND ARE
EXPECTED TODAY AS THE LOW MOVE ACROSS THE ALEUTIANS INTO THE BERING
SEA.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY

PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING...185.
         HEAVY SNOW WARNING...141.
MARINE...STORM WARNING...5B 6B 12A.
         GALE WARNING...5A 6A  8 12A1 12B 13A 14 15.
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING...14.

KB FEB 05

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Eastern Aleutians

When: February 15, 3:00 PM AST to February 16, 3:30 AM AST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 87 kt (100 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When: February 15, 7:00 PM AST to February 16, 4:00 PM AST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 80 kt (92 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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 2005

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: 5434067, 5434068.