Alaska, 2006

High Wind in Alaska, March 9 to 10, 2006

March 9 to 10, 2006 · NWS AFC · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A nearly stationary low persisted in the Gulf of Alaska from Wednesday through Friday. This storm coupled with strong cold air advection off of the Alaska mainland produced strong northerly wind that was channeled through the mountainous terrain of the south central region of Alaska to Kodiak Island and the North Gulf Coast.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 nearly stationary low persisted in the Gulf of Alaska from Wednesday through Friday. This storm coupled with strong cold air advection off of the Alaska mainland produced strong northerly wind that was channeled through the mountainous terrain of the south central region of Alaska to Kodiak Island and the North Gulf Coast. the wind peaked at 131 mph in Kodiak causing several shipping containers and numerous crab pots to be blown around.

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 8, 5:00 PM AST, 10 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 5:00 PM AST, 10 hours 49 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 PM AST WED MAR 8 2006

.DISCUSSION...BIG ISSUE TODAY REVOLVES AROUND THE 965 MB LOW
SOUTHWEST OF YAKUTAT. STRONG COLD AIR ADVECTION BEHIND THIS LOW HAS
COMBINED WITH A TIGHT SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT TO PRODUCE STRONG
WINDS IN THE GULF OF ALASKA AREA. POSITIVE VORTICITY AT 500 MB OVER
KODIAK ISLAND HAS ALSO EXACERBATED THE SITUATION THERE. MEASURED
WINDS AT THE KODIAK HARBOR HAVE BROKEN 100 MPH TODAY. WINDS SHOULD
EASE UP A LITTLE BIT TONIGHT BUT PROBABLY WILL NOT DIMINISH UNDER
HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERIA UNTIL LATE THURSDAY MORNING.
THE VALDEZ AREA AND THE COPPER RIVER DELTA ARE ALSO AREAS OF CONCERN
THAT HAVE PROMPTED HIGH WIND WARNINGS. WINDS SHOULD BEGIN TO PICK UP
THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY LATE AFTERNOON FOR VALDEZ.
SEE HIGH WIND WARNINGS FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

THE LOW IS MOVING TO THE EAST AND PRECIPITATION WILL BE EAST OF THE
AREA. THE OVERALL PICTURE HAS STRONG WINDS...ESPECIALLY THROUGH
CHANNELED TERRAIN...CONTINUING INTO FRIDAY FOR MOST OF THE AREA ALONG
AND EAST OF THE ALASKA RANGE.

A SERIES OF LOWS ENTERING THE WESTERN BERING SEA BEGINNING TONIGHT
WILL BRING GALE AND SOME STORM FORCE WINDS IN THE BERING SEA AND
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. WINDS WILL STRETCH EASTWARD TO THE ALASKA PENINSULA
AND BRISTOL BAY COAST BY SATURDAY.

MODEL ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND SEEM TO BE HANDLING THE LOW NEAR
YAKUTAT WELL. NO MAJOR CONCERN WITH THEM IN THE SHORT TERM.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 131 135 171.
MARINE...GALES AND STORMS GULF COAST THROUGH ALEUTIAN ISLANDS.
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 121 129 132 138 140 141 150 185.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

MAR 06

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Kodiak Peninsula

When
March 9, 3:49 AM AST to 2:00 PM AST
Where
Kodiak Peninsula forecast zone
Measured
114 kt (131 mph) measured gust
Property damage
$2,000
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Sern P.W. Snd

When
March 9, 11:00 AM AST to 9:00 PM AST
Where
Sern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Measured
70 kt (81 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Nern P.W. Snd

When
March 9, 11:30 AM AST to March 10, 8:30 PM AST
Where
Nern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Measured
60 kt (69 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: 5492778, 5492780, 5492779.