High Wind in Alaska, November 25, 2005

Name: High Wind in Alaska, November 25, 2005
Start: 2005-11-25T00:30
End: 2005-11-25T08:00
Location: Alaska

November 25, 2005 · NWS AJK · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $20,000
Crop damage: $15,000
Events: 4

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.

The low from the previous day spun up a 980 MB low lee (east) of the St Elias Mountains in extreme northwest British Columbia. It dragged a cold front in from the northern Gulf of Alaska that produced a strong wind shift and northwest gale in our coastal waters. The southeast pressure gradient tightened ahead of this front and was able to produce one final burst of high winds in the central inner channels and Southern Panhandle. A trained weather spotter on the NOAA vessel Fairweather measured a gust to 86 mph on their anemometer while in dock in Ketchikan. Trained spotters elsewhere in Ketchikan estimated winds of 70 mph. The airport ASOS peaked at 61 mph, while the terminal roof anemometer measured 63 mph. A lengthy power outage occurred and both KTKN (LP1) and KRBD (LP2) radio stations were knocked off the air most of the morning. Elsewhere measured peak winds were as follows: Juneau Tram 60 mph, Five Finger lighthouse 59 mph, Wrangell ASOS 54 mph, and the Hydaburg AWOS at 53 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 Nov 24, 11:00 AM AST, 13 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 24, 11:00 AM AST, 13 hours 30 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1100 AM AST THU NOV 24 2005

.SHORT RANGE...GOES IR LOOP SHOWS CIRCULATION IN THE VICINITY
OF 50/135 THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH 976 MB PARENT LOW.  THE
ASSOCIATED TRIPLE POINT HAS QUICKLY ENTERED PRINCE WILLIAM
SOUND FROM THE SSE.  THE COLD FRONT IS MOVING ONSHORE
THE PANHANDLE AT THIS TIME AND THE CAPE EDGECUMBE BUOY HAD
A PRESSURE CHECK AT AT 16Z.  THE OLD OCCLUSION IN THE
CENTRAL GULF OF ALASKA IS DISSIPATING EXCEPT NEAR
THE 976 PARENT LOW.  MUCH OF THIS DISSIPATION IS DUE TO
THE LOSS OF THERMAL CONTRAST ASSOCIATED WITH THE COLDER
OUTBREAK IN THE WESTERN GULF AT THIS TIME.

PLEASE NOTE HIGH WIND WARNINGS GIVEN BELOW ARE FOR ALL ZONES
EXCEPT 18 AND 19...IE...HAINES AND SKAGWAY.  HIGHEST WINDS
REPORTED AT THIS TIME ARE AT SISTERS ISLAND WITH PEAK WINDS
OF 51KT.  EARLIER THIS MORNING...FIVE FINGER LIGHTHOUSE HAD
43G52KT AT 13Z...AND HYDABURG 31G50KT AT 10Z...AND 26G47KT
AT 1436Z.  HYDABURG MAY HAVE HAD ITS STRONGEST WIND DURING
12Z-13Z DATA TRANSMISSION FAILURE.

SYNOPTIC SCALE CIRCULATION AROUND LOW ALOFT OVER KING SALMON
SHOWS OUR NEXT MAJOR CHANGE...THE UNUSULLY WARM CONDITIONS
FOR THE PANHANDLE ARE ABOUT TO END AND NC TO COOL DOWN IN
FORECAST PACKAGE.  THE 522 DAM THICKNESS VALUES SHOULD MOVE
EAST AND INCLUDE THE ENTIRE FORECAST DOMAIN ABOUT
18Z FRI.

.LONG RANGE...THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE NORTHERN GULF OF
ALASKA WILL SLOWLY SLIDE TO THE SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
THE COLD AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THIS UPPER LOW WILL FORM SNOW
SHOWERS OVER THE GULF AND PUSH THEM ONSHORE. THE SHOWERS WILL
BECOME MORE SCATTERED BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON AS THE FLOW ALOFT
BACKS TO THE SOUTHEAST. THE WEAK SURFACE LOW IN THE NORTHERN GULF
SATURDAY WILL FILL AND SLIDE INTO THE SOUTHEAST GULF. THE LOW
WILL INCREASE THE SURFACE OFFSHORE FLOW AND BEGIN A DRYING TREND
FOR THE NORTHERN AREAS. WILL KEEP SOME SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER THE
SOUTHERN HALF AS A SHORTWAVE ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER LOW WILL
LIFT OVER THE AREA THROUGH SUNDAY. BY MONDAY NIGHT MOST AREAS
COULD BE PARTLY CLOUDY.

THE UPPER TROF OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL DRIFT EAST AS A RIDGE
BUILDS OVER THE GULF MONDAY. THERE IS SOME DIFFERENCES IN THE
MODELS AS HOW FLAT OR AMPLIFIED THE RIDGE WILL BE. WILL GO WITH A
MORE FLAT RIDGE AS A SHORTWAVE IN WESTERN ALASKA WILL SWING
ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF BY WEDNESDAY. AS THE RIDGE AXIS DRIFTS
TO THE EAST CLOUDS WILL MOVE BACK INTO THE AREA. A DEVELOPING LOW
WILL MOVE OUT OF THE NORTH PACIFIC AND INTO THE SOUTHERN GULF BY
THE END OF THE WEEK.

.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING...ZONES 17 AND 20 THROUGH 29 THRU
NOON TODAY.
...WIND ADVY...ZONE 19 THRU NOON TODAY
...SNOW ADVY...ZONE 17 TONIGHT

MARINE...STORM...PKZ036-041>043-051-310 E 142W
      ...GALE...PKZ011-021-022-031>035-052-310 W 142W
JT/ABJ

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Dixon Entrance to Cape Decision Coastal Area

When: November 25, 12:30 AM AST to 4:30 AM AST
Where: Dixon Entrance to Cape Decision Coastal Area forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Southern Inner Channels

When: November 25, 1:00 AM AST to 4:00 AM AST
Where: Southern Inner Channels forecast zone
Measured: 75 kt (86 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $20,000
Crop damage: $15,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

High Wind, Juneau Borough and Northern Admiralty Island

When: November 25, 5:00 AM AST to 8:00 AM AST
Where: Juneau Borough and Northern Admiralty Island forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Inner Channels From Kupreanof Island to Etolin Island

When: November 25, 5:00 AM AST to 7:00 AM AST
Where: Inner Channels From Kupreanof Island to Etolin Island forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated 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, November 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: 5485276, 5485277, 5485274, 5485275.