High Wind in Alaska, January 3 to 4, 2005

Name: High Wind in Alaska, January 3 to 4, 2005
Start: 2005-01-03T05:00
End: 2005-01-04T08:30
Location: Alaska

January 3 to 4, 2005 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A low pressure system moving eastward across the state created a strong pressure gradient through Turnagain Arm and along higher elevations. Strong winds peaking at 79kt resulted.

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 low pressure system moving eastward across the state created a strong pressure gradient through Turnagain Arm and along higher elevations. Strong winds peaking at 79kt resulted. Winds also caused minor damage to structures. Public reports indicated some shingles had been ripped off a roof near Eagle River. The system's accompanying southerly flow and downsloping brought heavy rain and record warm temperatures to Anchorage.

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 3, 5:00 AM AST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 3, 5:00 AM AST, 0 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA
500 AM AST MON JAN 3 2005

.DISCUSSION...

AN OMEGA BLOCK HAS SET-UP OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC...WITH THE RIDGE
AXIS EXTENDING THROUGH THE EASTERN GULF OVER THE AK-YUKON TERRITORY
BORDER. THE TROUGH IN THE CENTRAL BERING COMBINED WITH THE RIDGE
HAS SET UP A SOUTHWEST FLOW FROM THE ALASKA PENINSULA EAST. THE JET
IS DRIVING MOISTURE AND WARM AIR INTO THE WESTERN MAINLAND ZONES AND
SOUTHCENTRAL...PRODUCING SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW IN THE KUSKOKWIM
VALLEY WITH RAIN AND IN BRISTOL BAY AND FREEZING RAIN ALONG COASTAL
AREAS OF SOUTHCENTRAL AND HEAVY SNOW FOR THE NORTHERN SUSITNA AND
POSSIBLY THE NORTHERN COPPER RIVER BASIN. A STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT
HAS SET-UP THROUGH SOUTHCENTRAL THIS MORNING WITH THE ADVANCING FRONT
OVER THE ALASKA PENINSULA AND THE PERSISTENT RIDGE OVER THE
PANHANDLE. EAST TO WEST GAPS WINDS SUCH AS TURNAGAIN ARM AND THE
ANCHORAGE HILLSIDE. EAGLE RIVER WINDS ARE GUSTY AS WELL. WINDS WILL
RELAX THIS AFTERNOON AS THE FRONT MOVES OVER SOUTHCENTRAL...AND THE
GRADIENT MOVES EAST.

THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL PROGRESS SLOWLY EAST TODAY. BY TUESDAY
NIGHT THE BASE OF THE TROUGH WILL MOVE OVER SOUTHCENTRAL...
FLATTENING THE AXIS OF THE RIDGE OVER THE GULF. PRECIPITATION WILL
DIMINISH ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE TROUGH. ON WEDNESDAY MORNING A RIDGE
AXIS OVER THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS WILL BUILD OVER THE ALASKA PENINSULA.
 THIS WILL BRING A DRIER COLDER NORTHWEST FLOW TO OUR MAINLAND ZONES
WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. THE CENTER OF THE RIDGE WILL THEN BUILD OVER
BRISTOL BAY BY THURSDAY NIGHT. THE CENTER IS THEN PROJECTED TO MOVE
OVER SOUTHCENTRAL BY NEXT WEEKEND. WE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR THE
POSSIBILITY OF A PROLONGED PERIOD OF FOG FOR MAINLAND ALASKA AND
SOUTHCENTRAL AT THE END OF THE WORKWEEK THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HEAVY SNOW...145
         HIGH WIND...101
MARINE...HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY...8 14
         GALE...13A 13B 14
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

AFISH JAN 05

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: January 3, 5:00 AM AST to January 4, 8:30 AM AST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Measured: 79 kt (91 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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, January 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: 5433607.