Name: High Wind in Alaska, April 12 to 13, 2006
Start: 2006-04-12T18:30
End: 2006-04-13T15:30
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.

A rapidly developing storm moved from Bristol Bay into the Gulf of Alaska Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Strong northwest wind around the west side of this storm blew through the terrain gaps along the Alaska Peninsula Wednesday night. The low continued to the east into the Gulf Thursday, resulting in the strong northwest wind moving over Kodiak Island Thursday 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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 12, 3:00 PM AST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 12, 3:00 PM AST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
400 PM ADT WED APR 12 2006

.DISCUSSION...
A COLD UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE BERING SEA AND WESTERN ALASKA WILL BE
PUSHING INTO SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA AND THE GULF OF ALASKA OVERNIGHT.
THIS LATE SEASON PUSH OF COLD AIR WILL INTENSIFY A LOW MOVING INTO
THE NORTHERN GULF OVERNIGHT. THE ORIGINAL SURFACE LOW OVER THE
BRISTOL BAY ZONE WILL DISSIPATE OVERNIGHT AS THE LOW IN THE NORTHERN
GULF INTENSIFIES.
STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP THROUGH THE ALASKA PENINSULA AND
OVER THE KODIAK AREAS TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY WITH THE COLD ADVECTION
AND TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT. SNOW THAT HAS BEEN OCCURRING IN BRISTOL
BAY AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA WILL TURN TO SNOW SHOWERS AS THE UPPER LEVEL
LOW MOVES EASTWARD.
RAIN AND SNOW WILL OCCUR ALONG THE NORTH GULF COAST WITH THIS SYSTEM.
THE BIG QUESTION IS HOW MUCH PRECIPITATION WILL MAKE IT ACROSS THE
MOUNTAINS OVERNIGHT AND INTO THURSDAY. AS IT STANDS RIGHT NOW THE
GREATEST CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION IN THE ANCHORAGE BOWL AND MAT-SU
AREA WILL BE TONIGHT BEFORE THE UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVES EAST OF THESE
AREAS BY THURSDAY MORNING. BIG REASON WHY THERE MAY NOT BE ANY
PRECIPITATION IN THESE AREAS COMES FROM THE FACT THAT THE UPPER LEVEL
TROUGH IS BECOMING A CUT OFF LOW SOUTH OF THE KENAI PENINSULA. THIS
USUALLY CAUSES PRECIPITATION NOT TO MAKE IT ACROSS THE CHUGACH
MOUNTAINS. ANY PRECIPITATION THAT FALLS OVERNIGHT OR THURSDAY MORNING
WILL BE IN THE FORM OF SNOW.

MODELS ARE IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE GULF OF ALASKA AREA WITH THE
DEVELOPING LOW AND RESULTANT DEVELOPMENT OF A SECONDARY LOW NEAR
MIDDLETON ISLAND THURSDAY NIGHT AS THIS LOW MOVES SOUTHEAST.
IN THE WEST THE GFS LOOKS TO HAVE A BETTER SOLUTION WITH A WEAK LOW
SKIRTING NORTH OF THE ALEUTIAN CHAIN AND DISSIPATING NEAR DUTCH
HARBOR THURSDAY NIGHT. UKMET ALSO CARRIES THIS FEATURE BUT THE NAM
DOES NOT.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...GALE 130 132 138 155 160 165 180 170 171 175 176.
         STORM 150.
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 160 185.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

APR 06

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When: April 12, 6:30 PM AST to 7:30 PM AST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 75 kt (86 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Kodiak Peninsula

When: April 13, 2:15 PM AST to 3:30 PM AST
Where: Kodiak Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 72 kt (83 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 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, April 2006

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: 5495458, 5495459.