Alaska, 2006

High Wind in Alaska, March 14 to 15, 2006

March 14 to 15, 2006 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Low pressure over the Gulf of Alaska combined with strong high pressure over the Canadian Yukon and deep cold air over the eastern interior of Alaska resulted in extreme wind channeled through the mountains along the gulf coast of Alaska. The northerly wind peaked at 115 mph in Valdez Tuesday morning.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000
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.

Low pressure over the Gulf of Alaska combined with strong high pressure over the Canadian Yukon and deep cold air over the eastern interior of Alaska resulted in extreme wind channeled through the mountains along the gulf coast of Alaska. The northerly wind peaked at 115 mph in Valdez Tuesday morning.

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 Mar 13, 5:00 PM AST, 9 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 13, 5:00 PM AST, 9 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 PM AST MON MAR 13 2006

.DISCUSSION...
THE ETA MODEL IS FINALLY IN SYNC WITH THE GFS MODEL. THE GFS HAS BEEN
AND CONTINUES TO BE THE PREFERRED MODEL.

UPPER AIR...
THE CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER WESTERN ALASKA WILL PERSIST AND WILL MERGE
WITH AN UPPER RIDGE MOVING EAST FROM THE WESTERN BERING SEA TUESDAY
AFTERNOON. LOW PRESSURE OVER SIBERIA WILL SPREAD INTO THE WESTERN
BERING SEA BEHIND THE RIDGE WEDNESDAY WITH A LOW MOVING CENTRAL
BERING THURSDAY.

A NORTHERLY 300 MB JET ALONG THE ALCAN BORDER WILL SHIFT WEST TO CUT
ACROSS PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AND THE CENTRAL GULF COAST LATER MONDAY
NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL HELP INTENSIFY THE PRESSURE
GRADIENT ALONG THE GULF COAST AND WILL CREATE WARNING LEVEL WINDS
THROUGH THE CHANNELED TERRAIN AROUND PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AND THE
GULF AND THE COPPER RIVER DELTA. GUSTY NORTH WINDS WILL ALSO DEVELOP
THROUGH THE GAPS IN THE ALASKA RANGE.

AT THE SURFACE...
THE OLD FRONT OVER KODIAK ISLAND AND BRISTOL BAY HAS DISSIPATED. A
WEAK LOW OF KODIAK ISLAND WILL DRIFT SOUTH AND DISSIPATE TUESDAY
AFTERNOON. HIGH PRESSURE OVER NORTHWEST ALASKA WILL PERSIST THROUGH
THURSDAY.

SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA WILL CONTINUE TO BE MOSTLY CLEAR AND COLD
THROUGH THURSDAY. THE CLEAR WEATHER OVER THE KUSKOKWIM VALLEY WILL
SPREAD SOUTHWEST INTO THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA AND BRISTOL BAY TONIGHT AND
TUESDAY.

A WEATHER FRONT OVER THE WESTERN BERING SEA WILL MOVE EAST AND WILL
DISSIPATE AS IT APPROACHES THE WEST COAST OF THE STATE WEDNESDAY.
CLOUDS AND A FEW AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW WILL MOVE INTO THE KUSKOKWIM
DELTA AND WESTERN BRISTOL BAY WEDNESDAY.

A 992 MB LOW 800 MILES SOUTH OF ATTU TUESDAY NIGHT WILL DEEPEN TO 975
MB NEAR ADAK WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THE SOUTHERN BERING SEA THURSDAY.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR VALDEZ AND COPPER RIVER DELTA LATE
TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT.
MARINE...GALES AREAS 172, 175, 176
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

NM MAR 06

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Nern P.W. Snd

When
March 14, 2:00 AM AST to March 15, 9:00 AM AST
Where
Nern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Measured
100 kt (115 mph) measured gust
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Sern P.W. Snd

When
March 14, 2:00 AM AST to March 15, 10:00 AM AST
Where
Sern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Measured
100 kt (115 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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 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: 5492876, 5492877.