High Wind in Alaska, March 16, 2006

Name: High Wind in Alaska, March 16, 2006
Start: 2006-03-16T12:00
End: 2006-03-16T18:00
Location: Alaska

March 16, 2006 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An intense storm moved into the central Bering Sea Thursday March 16th. This storm produced strong westerly wind across the western Aleutians.

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 storm moved into the central Bering Sea Thursday March 16th. This storm produced strong westerly wind across the western Aleutians. the wind peaked at 82 mph in Adak around noon Thursday.

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 16, 5:00 AM AST, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 16, 5:00 AM AST, 7 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 AM AST THU MAR 16 2006

.DISCUSSION...
LOW OUT WEST IS OF COURSE THE MAJOR WEATHER GENERATOR FOR THE STATE
TODAY. GFS AND ETA IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON POSITION AND STRENGTH OF THIS
SYSTEM AS IT MOVES JUST NORTH OF PRIBILOFS SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
HOWEVER, MODELS ARE IN VAST DISAGREEMENT ON DEVELOPING SYSTEM FURTHER
TO THE WEST.  GFS IS FASTER AND NOT AS STRONG AS ETA AND UK MET.
AFTER CONSIDERABLE DISCUSSION BETWEEN FORECASTERS...LOOKS LIKE BERING
SEA FORECAST WILL REFLECT A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE MODEL SOLUTIONS.
NEEDLESS TO SAY WE HAVE LITTLE CONFIDENCE OUT PAST 42 HOURS IN THIS
REGION.

NOT MUCH CHANGE OVER SOUTHCENTRAL FRIDAY.  FRONT AND DEVELOPING LOW
MOVE INTO WESTERN GULF OF ALASKA SATURDAY MORNING.  CHANCE FOR SNOW
OVER SOUTHCENTRAL SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. MODELS
IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON POSITION BUT GFS MUCH DEEPER...LEANING A BIT
HEAVER TOWARDS GFS SINCE TROUGH AT 500 MB IS SIGNIFCANT.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...SEE PACKAGE
MARINE...SEE PACKAGE
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

*** MAR 06

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Western Aleutians

When: March 16, 12:00 PM AST to 6:00 PM AST
Where: Western Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 71 kt (82 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

Every storm in Alaska in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5492878.