Name: High Wind in Alaska, October 20, 2005
Start: 2005-10-20T04:37
End: 2005-10-20T18:56
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 AFC wrote it up.

An intense and fast moving low moved across the Alaska Peninsula into the Gulf of Alaska late Wednesday night, October 19th. This storm produced strong northwest wind in its wake across the Alaska Peninsula that peaked at 97 mph at King Cove on the morning of the 20th.

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 Oct 20, 4:00 AM AST, 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 20, 4:00 AM AST, 37 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION..CORRECTED
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 AM ADT THU OCT 20 2005

CORRECTED TYPO

.DISCUSSION...

A 966 MB LOW 150 NM SOUTH OF CHIGNIK WILL INTENSIFY TO 954 MB 270 NM
SOUTH OF KODIAK THIS EVENING THEN WEAKEN AND MOVE INTO THE
NORTHEASTERN GULF OF ALASKA BY SATURDAY MORNING. THE ASSOCIATED
OCCLUDED FRONT EXTENDS SOUTHEASTWARD FROM THE LOW. THE FRONT WILL
CURVE NORTHWARD INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA TODAY AND BECOME NEARLY
STATIONARY ALONG THE NORTH GULF COAST TONIGHT. EXPECT STORM FORCE
EASTERLIES AND MODERATE RAINFALL ALONG AND IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT.
MOST OF THE FURY OF THIS SYSTEM WILL BE DIRECTED AT KODIAK ISLAND
AND MARINE AREAS 120 130 132 AND 150.

PLENTY OF COLD AIR ADVECTION ON THE REAR FLANK OF THE LOW. NORTHWEST
WINDS ARE ANTICIPATED TO REACH SPEEDS OF UP TO 75 MPH ACROSS
THE ALASKA PENINSULA. NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO
REMAIN ABOVE 30 KTS ACROSS MARINE ZONES 155 165 170 172 THROUGH AT
LEAST SATURDAY MORNING.

COMPLEX LOW PRESSURE WILL PERSIST ACROSS EASTERN RUSSIAN AND
THE NORTHERN BERING SEA THROUGH FRI THEN MOVE OVER NORTHWESTERN
ALASKA BY SAT MORNING. BROAD WESTERLY FLOW WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN BERING SEA AND ALEUTIAN RANGE INTO SUNDAY.

SUBSTANTIAL GRADIENT TODAY BETWEEN TURNAGAIN ARM AND PRINCE WILLIAM
SOUND. GUSTY SOUTHEAST WINDS THROUGH AND ALONG PASSAGE
CANAL...PORTAGE VALLEY...TURNAGAIN ARM...AND THE ANCHORAGE HILLSIDE
WILL CONTINUE INTO EARLY AFTERNOON.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND 181
MARINE...GALE 121 125 138 140 160 171 172 175 176 179 180 185
         STORM 120 130 132 150 165 170
         HURRICANE FORCE 155
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

ASB OCT 05

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When: October 20, 4:37 AM AST to 6:56 PM AST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 84 kt (97 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, October 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: 5473955.