Name: High Wind in Alaska, December 11, 2007
Start: 2007-12-11T00:35
End: 2007-12-11T01:55
Location: Alaska

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 AFG wrote it up.

Strong high pressure northeast of the state and a low pressure center traveling north over the Bering Sea, caused high winds to occur at Barter Island. The pressure gradient and winds relaxed quickly as the low weakened, the high slid eastward, and a surface trough over the Arctic slope progressed northward. At the Barter Island AWOS, the highest gust was 53 knots (61 mph).

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 Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 10, 11:02 PM AKST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 10, 11:02 PM AKST, 1 hour 33 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
402 AM AST TUE DEC 11 2007

.DISCUSSION...

TROUGH ALOFT EXTENDING GULF ANADYR-SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND-COOK
INLET WILL MOVE SLOWLY NORTHWARD TO CAPE LISBURNE-AMBLER-NORTHWAY
BY 12Z WED WEAKENING SOME. THE TROUGH WILL CONTINUE TO WEAKEN
AND LIFT OUT ACROSS THE ARCTIC COAST THROUGH 12Z THU.

SNOW IN ZONES 211-212 WILL LIKELY END BY MID MORNING AS THE
TROUGH AXIS MOVES NORTHWARD...AND END A LITTLE LATER IN ZONE 210.
SOME SNOW IS LIKELY TO SPREAD NORTHWARD ACROSS THE NORTHERN
PARTS OF THE WEST COAST AND THE BROOKS RANGE LATER TODAY AND
TONIGHT AS THE UPPER TROUGH MOVES ALONG.

WINDS ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST WILL DIMINISH THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH TONIGHT AS A SURFACE TROUGH OVER THE INLAND ARCTIC
SLOPE MOVES SLOWLY NORTHWARD.

WINDS AT ANTLER CREEK AND BIG DELTA ARE WELL BELOW ADVISORY
LEVELS AND WILL BECOME LIGHT BY MID DAY IF NOT SOONER.

MOST OF THE EASTERN INTERIOR WILL HAVE A PERIOD OF SNOW
TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH THE UPPER TROUGH AND LOW LEVEL
WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS. MANY AREAS SHOULD SEE SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH WIND WARNING FOR AKZ204.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225.

HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING FOR PKZ220-PKZ225.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ245.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ230-PKZ235-PKZ240.
&&

DEC 07

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast

When: December 11, 12:35 AM AKST to 1:55 AM AKST
Where: Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS

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 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, December 2007

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: 62305.