A strong pressure and temperature gradient along the North Gulf Coast between a strong Arctic high and Gulf of Alaska low produced high wind through the gaps in the Chugach Mountains. The peak measured wind was 86 mph through Thompson Pass.
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 strong pressure and temperature gradient along the North Gulf Coast between a strong Arctic high and Gulf of Alaska low produced high wind through the gaps in the Chugach Mountains. The peak measured wind was 86 mph through Thompson Pass.
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 Jan 4, 2:00 PM AKST, 2 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
200 PM AKST SUN JAN 4 2009
.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
MAIN FEATURE OF INTEREST IS A COLD CORE UPPER LOW LOCATED NEAR PRINCE
WILLIAM SOUND. A SHORT WAVE MOVING SOUTHWARD ON THE WESTERN PERIPHERY
OF THE LOW...WHILE DIFFICULT TO DISCERN ON SATELLITE IMAGERY...IS
BRINGING ANOTHER REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD AIR TO SOUTHCENTRAL AND
SOUTHWEST ALASKA. THE OMEGA BLOCKING RIDGE THAT HAS BEEN OVER THE
CENTRAL BERING SEA THE LAST WEEK OR SO CONTINUES TO BE PINCHED OFF BY
THE LOW OVER SOUTHCENTRAL AND A SECOND LOW SOUTH OF THE KAMCHATKA
PENINSULA...A SIGN THAT A PATTERN CHANGE MIGHT NOT BE TOO FAR AWAY.
AT THE SURFACE...A 966 MB LOW IS MAKING A QUICK EXIT FROM THE GULF
AND INTO THE PANHANDLE THIS AFTERNOON. A WEAKER LOW IS EVIDENT ON
SATELLITE AND RADAR SPINNING IN THE NORTHERN GULF JUST EAST OF THE
COPPER RIVER DELTA. 1031 MB HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS IN CONTROL ACROSS
THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE WHILE A COMPLEX LOW SOUTH OF THE
CENTRAL ALEUTIANS HELPS MAINTAIN A STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT ALONG THE
CHAIN.
.MODEL DISCUSSION...
NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE FORECAST FOR THE SHORT TERM AS MODELS
CONTINUE TO INITIALIZE WELL AND ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH 72
HOURS. THE DIFFERENCES ARISE WITH A DEVELOPING NPAC LOW MIDWEEK. THE
ECMWF HAS BY FAR BEEN THE MOST CONSISTENT WHILE THE GFS CONTINUES TO
TREND TOWARD THIS SOLUTION. THE MOST LIKELY TRACK OF THE LOW WILL BE
NORTHEAST TOWARD KODIAK...SOUTH AND EAST OF THE ALASKA PENINSULA AND
INTO THE WESTERN GULF BY THE WEEKEND. THERE IS TOO MUCH COLD AIR IN
PLACE TO THINK THAT THIS FIRST LOW WILL TRACK NORTHWARD INTO THE
BERING. THIS FIRST LOW WILL BEGIN THE WARMING TREND BACK TO NEAR
CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMS BY THE END OF THE WEEK...AND ALSO BRING BACK THE
CHANCE FOR SNOW FOR MOST OF THE REGION.
.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
SOUTHCENTRAL...THE FOCUS THIS MORNING IS ON THE COLD UPPER LOW AND
ITS PROGRESSION TO THE EAST DURING THE NEXT 12 HOURS. AS THE LOW
BEGINS TO PULL TO THE EAST...COLD AIR WILL BE FORCED SOUTH ACROSS THE
CHUGACH RANGE THROUGH THE CHANNELED TERRAIN. THIS IS ESPECIALLY
CONCERNING THROUGH THOMPSON PASS WHERE WINDS ARE ALREADY GUSTING
ABOVE 60 MPH AND WIND CHILLS HAVE BEEN NEAR -50. ADDING MORE
COLD AIR AND INCREASING THE PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS
WILL ONLY MEAN STRONGER WINDS AND LOWER WIND CHILLS...RESULTING IN A
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THOMPSON PASS THROUGH EARLY MONDAY
AFTERNOON. WILL ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE
COPPER RIVER DELTA BEGINNING A LITTLE LATER ONCE THE GRADIENT BECOMES
MORE FAVORABLE FOR THAT REGION.
ELSEWHERE...THE STORY CONTINUES TO BE THE COLD AIRMASS KEEPING
TEMPERATURES ACROSS MOST OF ALASKA WELL BELOW NORMAL. TEMPERATURES IN
ANCHORAGE WILL LIKELY STAY BELOW ZERO THROUGH MID WEEK WHEN THE
DEVELOPING LOW AND CHANGING UPPER LEVEL PATTERN WILL ALLOW
TEMPERATURES TO MODERATE. CLOUDS WILL EVENTUALLY RETURN LATE
WEDNESDAY AND INTO THURSDAY AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SNOW LATER IN THE
WEEKEND.
SOUTHWEST...BITTER COLD CONDITIONS CONTINUE OVER THE SOUTHWEST
MAINLAND. TEMPERATURES RANGE FROM 10 BELOW ALONG THE COAST TO 50
BELOW IN THE UPPER KUSKOKWIM VALLEY. SHALLOW DENSE FOG IS RESTRICTING
VISIBILITY IN THE VALLEYS WHERE THE STRONG TEMPERATURE INVERSION IS
TRAPPING THE MOISTURE NEAR THE SURFACE. WIND CHILL ADVISORIES ARE
STILL IN EFFECT FOR THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA AND THE BRISTOL BAY ZONES BUT
WINDS ARE DIMINISHING THIS AFTERNOON. WILL LIKELY KEEP THE ADVISORIES
THROUGH AT LEAST THE EVENING BEFORE WINDS DIE DOWN ENOUGH.
THE SOUTHWEST COULD SEE A BREAK FROM THE EXTREME COLD AS EARLY AS
THURSDAY ALTHOUGH AS MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS SECTION...IT WILL BE
DIFFICULT FOR THIS FIRST LOW TO PENETRATE THE DEEP ARCTIC AIRMASS. IT
MAY BE THE SECOND OR THIRD LOW TO DEVELOP NEAR THE ALASKA PENINSULA
BEFORE THE WARMER INFLUENCES MOVE UP THE VALLEYS.
.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...WINTER STORM WARNING 131
HIGH WIND WARNING 135.
MARINE...STORM WARNING...175 176.
GALE WARNING...121 129 130 132 138 150 172.
HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING...120 121 125 129 130 132 138
140 141 150 160 165 179 185.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.
AB JAN 092 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind speed out of the Copper River Delta is estimated based upon the pressure gradient and temperature gradient and reported wind gusts through Thompson Pass.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 2009
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: 140415, 140414.