High Wind in Alaska, September 27, 2005

Name: High Wind in Alaska, September 27, 2005
Start: 2005-09-27T07:00
End: 2005-09-27T18:00
Location: Alaska

September 27, 2005 · NWS AJK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 969 MB Low tracked from the Bering Sea into the western Gulf of Alaska on this date. A very strong east-northeast flow developed throughout the northeast Gulf coast.

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 AJK wrote it up.

A 969 MB Low tracked from the Bering Sea into the western Gulf of Alaska on this date. A very strong east-northeast flow developed throughout the northeast Gulf coast. The strongest winds in the Juneau AOR occurred along the uninhabited coastline between Cape Suckling and Icy Bay. A weather spotter did report 60-75 knot winds emanating from the mouth of the Tsiu River drainage around 9 am AST. The Middleton Island sensor measured east gusts to 70 knots that morning, and the Cape Suckling Buoy 58 knots early in the afternoon. The Bering Glacier RAWS measured 53 mph later that afternoon. The strongest winds elsewhere in Southeast Alaska occurred as the associated front raced through. Sitka got up to 43 knots and Hydaburg 44 knots late in the afternoon.

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 Sep 27, 5:30 AM AST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 27, 5:30 AM AST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
630 AM ADT TUE SEP 27 2005

.SHORT RANGE...STRONG OCCLUDED FRONT OVER THE CENTRAL GULF WILL
MOVE INTO THE EASTERN GULF THIS MORNING...THEN ONSHORE OVER SE AK
TONIGHT. 1 OR MORE LOW PRESSURE WAVES WILL MOVE N ALONG THE FRONT
THRU THE ERN GULF TODAY AND THIS EVENING. PARENT LOW WILL MOVE
FROM JUST S OF THE AKPEN TO NEAR KODIAK ISLAND TONIGHT...THEN
INTO THE FAR NW GULF WED. A COUPLE OF TROFS WILL MOVE NE ACROSS
THE AREA TONIGHT AND WED.

STRONG WINDS WITH THE FRONT ARE OVER THE CENTRAL GULF AND JUST
MOVING INTO THE NRN/ERN GULF ATTM. STORM FORCE WINDS WILL OCCUR
OVER THE ENTIRE GULF MARINE AREA...AND GALES WILL OCCUR MAINLY
OVER THE MORE E-W CHANNELS EXCEPT WENT FOR STORM FOR CROSS
SOUND...AND SCA OVER THE REMAINING INNER CHANNELS. UPGRADED ALL
REMAINING HIGH WIND WATCHES TO WARNINGS FOR COASTAL AREAS...AND
PUT UP A WIND ADVY FOR ALL INNER CHANNELS EXCEPT PAGY AND HYDER
ZONES. THE WINDS SHOULD PEAK UP TO 3 HRS BEFORE FROPA THIS
EVENING...THEN DROP OFF QUICKLY BEHIND IT.

RAIN WITH THIS FRONT WILL BE ON THE HEAVY SIDE...AS IT HAS TAPPED
INTO THE MOISTURE FROM REMNANT OF TYPHOON SAOLA. RIVER AND STREAM
LEVELS HAVE DROPPED TO NEAR THEIR BASE FLOW IN MOST PLACES...SO
IT WILL TAKE QUITE A DUMP OF RAIN TO GET ANY FLOODING. DO NOT
THINK THIS WILL HAPPEN WITH THE FRONTAL RAINS...BUT SOME VERY
LOCALIZED DRAINAGE FLOODING IS POSSIBLE. DECIDED TO NOT ISSUE ANY
SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVYS ATTM THOUGH AS IT PROBABLY WILL NOT BE
WIDESPREAD ENOUGH TO WARRANT THAT ISSUANCE YET.

AFTER FROPA...PRECIP WILL TRANSITION TO SHOWERS. GIVEN INTENSITY
OF MAIN LOW AND SUPPORTING UPPER SHORTWAVES MOVING THRU THE AREA
TONIGHT...AND FORECAST LI VALUES NEAR -2 AND CAPES 300-600 J/KG
ALONG CENTRAL AND NW OUTER COAST LATE TONIGHT AND WED...DECIDED
TO PUT IN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS FOR THOSE AREAS. THE RAINFALL
WITH THE SHOWERS COULD BE THE THING THAT CAUSES MORE WIDESPREAD
DRAINAGE FLOODING LATER TONIGHT AND WED. WILL LET CURRENT
HYDROLOGIC STATEMENT RIDE AS IS...AND ALLOW DAY SHIFT TO ASSESS
THE FLOODING THREAT FOR LATE TONIGHT AND WED.

.LONG RANGE...A COMPLEX UPPER TROF SYSTEM OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA
THROUGH SAT WILL CONTINUE TO BRING FRONTS THROUGH SOUTHEAST
ALASKA. SAT NIGHT THE UPPER FLOW PATTERN WILL SWITCH TO
ZONAL...AND BRING A PROGRESSIVE SERIES OF SHORT WAVE TROFS AND
RIDGES THROUGH SOUTHEAST ALASKA SUN THROUGH TUE.

THE COMPLEX UPPER TROF IS ASSOCIATED WITH A LOW WEAKENED TO 977
MB JUST EAST OF KODIAK BY WED EVENING. A SECONDARY 992 MB LOW IS
FORECAST BY THE GFS TO MOVE INLAND OVER NORTHERN QUEEN CHARLOTTE
ISLAND LATE WED NIGHT. THEN A SECONDARY SURFACE TROF ASSOCIATED
WITH THE MAIN LOW OVER THE NORTHERN GULF WILL MOVE THROUGH
SOUTHEAST ALASKA THU NIGHT AND FRI. THE MAIN LOW WILL CIRCULATE
OVER THE NORTHERN GULF AS IT WEAKENS TO 990 MB BY FRI AND THEN IS
FORECAST BY THE GFS TO MOVE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL AK AND DISSIPATE
BY SUN.

ECM IS SIMILAR THOUGH SOMEWHAT WEAKER...BRINGING A 997 MB LOW ON
A SIMILAR TRACK INLAND OVER QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLAND WED NIGHT. ETA
ALSO FOLLOWS THE SAME TRACK AND TIMING BUT WITH A SOMEWHAT
STRONGER 988 MB LOW...UKMET SAME TRACK WITH 992 MB LOW.

GIVEN CONSENSUS OF THE MODELS WILL GO WITH GFS SOLUTION FOR THE
PRESSURE GRIDS WED NIGHT THROUGH NEXT TUE.

.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING...ZONES 17..22..23..27
      ...WIND ADVISORY...ZONES 19>21..24>26..28

MARINE...STORM...PKZ022-041>043-051-052-310
      ...GALE...PKZ011-021-033>036
      ...SCA...ALL REMAINING INNER CHANNEL WATERS

RWT/LN

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Cape Fairweather to Cape Suckling Coastal Area

When: September 27, 7:00 AM AST to 6:00 PM AST
Where: Cape Fairweather to Cape Suckling Coastal Area forecast zone
Measured: 75 kt (86 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

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, September 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: 5476944.