A large strong high pressure system over interior Alaska coupled with a strong low in the Gulf of Alaska produced the typical strong gap wind through the Chugach Mountains. This is a data void region and wind speed is estimated from the pressure and temperature gradients and satellite imagery.
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.
The episode as NWS AFC wrote it up.
A large strong high pressure system over interior Alaska coupled with a strong low in the Gulf of Alaska produced the typical strong gap wind through the Chugach Mountains. This is a data void region and wind speed is estimated from the pressure and temperature gradients and satellite imagery.
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 Dec 28, 2:00 PM AKST, 0 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA 200 PM AKST SUN DEC 28 2008 .MODEL DISCUSSION...MODEL INITIALIZATIONS AND FORECAST TRENDS THROUGH FRI MORNING ARE IN GENERAL AGREEMENT AND REASONABLE. .ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...OMEGA BLOCK WITH RIDGE POSITION OVER THE BERING SEA LIKELY TO HOLD THROUGH THE LATTER PART OF THIS WEAK. HOWEVER...THE TROUGH AXIS THE GULF AND MAINLAND WILL SHIFT EAST SOME AS CUT-OFF OVER THE GULF LIFTS NORTH AND EAST. THIS WILL ALLOW THE NORTHERLY JET OVER THE EASTERN BERING SEA TO SHIFT OVER THE MAINLAND TUE. .SHORT TERM FORECAST... .EAST...HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE MAINLAND AND LOW PRESSURE WEAKENS OVER THE GULF. THE NET RESULT WILL BE TO CONTINUE STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENTS ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHCENTRAL THROUGH MON AND THE NORTH GULF THROUGH TUE. UPPER SUPPORT INTENSIFIES AS SHORT WAVE MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF TONIGHT/TUE INCREASES NORTH/NE WINDS ACROSS THE REGION. GRADIENTS SHOULD RELAX SOME OVER SOUTHCENTRAL MON NIGHT AND ALONG THE NORTH GULF COAST TUE AFTERNOON THROUGH WED. SO WILL SEE WINDS FALL BELOW WARNING LEVELS IN ZONE 111 MON NIGHT AND TUE AFTERNOON ALONG THE NORTH GULF. HOWEVER STRONG WIND HEADLINES WILL LIKELY CONTINUE OVER THE COPPER RIVER DELTA INTO WED. COLD TEMPS OVER THE EASTERN MAINLAND COMBINED WITH GAP FLOWS WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILL ADVISORIES THROUGH TUE AFTERNOON FOR ZONES 141 AND 145. .WEST...BRISK AND GENERALLY DRY NORTHERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE OVER THE SW MAINLAND THROUGH MON NIGHT. WINDS WILL DIMINISH MON NIGHT AND TUE AS JET CORE SHIFTS EAST AND RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE MAINLAND. COLD TEMPS WILL HOLD INLAND THROUGH MID WEEK. LOCALIZED BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ALONG THE AK PEN WILL CONTINUE INTO THIS EVENING AS SHORT WAVE MOVING SOUTH ALONG THE EASTERN BERING SEA APPROACHES THE AK PEN. CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE SOME LATER THIS EVENING AFTER WAVES MOVES SOUTH OF THE AK PEN. STRONG SE TO EAST WINDS LIKELY TO HOLD OVER THE EASTERN AND CENTRAL ALEUTIANS THROUGH WED WITH BERING SEA RIDGE AND STRENGTHENING TROUGH SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS. .AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY PUBLIC...WIND WARNINGS 111 131 AND 135. BLIZZARD WARNING 181. MARINE...GALE 121 130 132 150 155 165 175 176 FIRE WEATHER...NONE. RMC DEC 08
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Wind speed is estimated from the pressure and temperature gradient and satellite imagery.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2008
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: 139495.