Debris Flow and High Wind in Alaska, February 13, 2006

Name: Debris Flow and High Wind in Alaska, February 13, 2006
Start: 2006-02-13T04:30
End: 2006-02-13T17:00
Location: Alaska

February 13, 2006 · NWS AFC · 6 events in 5 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1.6 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 storm rapidly moved from the north Pacific into the Bering Sea on February 13th. This storm had an intense pressure gradient in advance of its associated front that produced extreme wind across the central Aleutians to the Alaska Peninsula and the Bristol Bay coast to the Pribilof Islands. Reports received from the vessel Stimson in Akutan were of wind peaking at 123 KTS that resulted in the vessel "tipping over" in the harbor. The vessel Redeemer reported winds peaking at 120 KTS where they were moored in Dutch Harbor. Along with the high wind, heavy rain occurred. This followed a prolonged period of extremely cold conditions with above average snow. Several landslides occurred. One landslide completely destroyed a building and its contents and another pushed a building off its foundation.

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 Feb 12, 12:00 PM AST, 16 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 12, 12:00 PM AST, 16 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
1200 PM AST SUN FEB 12 2006

.DISCUSSION...REALLY BUSY TODAY AS COLD AIR MOVING UP COOK INLET IS
CHANGING RAIN TO SNOW...FOG AT BETHEL AND WINDY ACROSS THE BERING AND
ALEUTIANS...WHEW. EXCELLENT SUPPORT FROM THE FIELD. THANK YOU.

INTERESTING BRIGHT BAND FREEZING LEVEL ON PAHG RADAR SHOWING COLD
ADVECTION MOVING IN THIS MORNING.

HIGH PRESSURE OMEGA BLOCK BUILDING OVER CENTRAL ALASKA EARLY THIS
WEEK AS MONSTER LOWS MOVE ACROSS THE CENTRAL BERING. GENERAL 3 WAVE
PATTERN HOLDS THROUGH 240 HOURS KEEPING THE OMEGA BLOCK RIGHT OVER
AK. OMEGA BLOCKS ARE HARD TO FORM BUT THIS LOOKS PRETTY GOOD AS DEEP
COLD AIR MOVES OVER HUDSON BAY AND KAMCHATKA TO SUPPORT THE BLOCK.

SHORT TERM HIGH WIND WATCHES AND BLIZZARD WARNING IN ALU DOMAIN
SUPPORTED BY LOTS OF PRESSURE FALLING RAPIDLY REMARKS OUT THERE.
FORECASTERS USING A COMBINATION OF MODELS.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING 155. HIGH WIND WATCH 181 AND 185.
MARINE...HURRICANE FORCE WINDS 172.
         STORMS 155 165 170 171 175 179 180 185.
         GALES 120 130 132 138 150 160 176.

AFC FEB 06

Event by event

5 high wind, 1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Western Aleutians

When: February 13, 4:30 AM AST to 12:00 PM AST
Where: Western Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 123 kt (142 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Eastern Aleutians

When: February 13, 11:30 AM AST to 2:00 PM AST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 120 kt (138 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Debris Flow, Eastern Aleutians

When: February 13, 11:30 AM AST to 2:00 PM AST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Property damage: $1.6 million
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When: February 13, 2:00 PM AST to 5:00 PM AST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 87 kt (100 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Pribilof Islands

When: February 13, 2:00 PM AST to 5:00 PM AST
Where: Pribilof Islands forecast zone
Measured: 66 kt (76 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Bristol Bay

When: February 13, 3:30 PM AST to 4:30 PM AST
Where: Bristol Bay forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 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.
Debris Flow: A fast-moving slurry of mud, rock and debris, usually on a slope soaked by heavy rain or stripped by a fire.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 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: 5487112, 5487111, 5487114, 5487110, 5487113, 5487109.