A 976 MB gale force low center made landfall near Icy Bay on the evening of 10/24. An associated front caused strong winds for the western side of Prince of Wales Island that evening into the morning of 10/25.
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 AJK wrote it up.
A 976 MB gale force low center made landfall near Icy Bay on the evening of 10/24. An associated front caused strong winds for the western side of Prince of Wales Island that evening into the morning of 10/25. Cold air aloft behind the front caused numerous thunderstorms for Stephens Passage and Frederick Sound on the afternoon of 10/25 along with waterspouts.
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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 24, 11:58 AM AKST, 9 hours 35 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
1258 PM AKDT SAT OCT 24 2009
.SHORT TERM...EARLY AFTERNOON SATELLITE LOOP SHOWS A DRIFTING
LOW IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF WITH ASSOCIATED OCCLUSION MOVING
ACROSS THE PANHANDLE. A TRIPLE POINT OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS
PASSING OVER CAPE SPENCER AND SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS RAIN SHOWERS
ARE OCCURRING ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PANHANDLE. A RIDGE
DRIFTING EASTWARD ACROSS COAST MOUNTAIN PRODUCES BREEZY TO
LOCALLY WINDY CONDITIONS OVER THE NORTHERN INNER CHANNELS. THE
INTENSITY OF THE LOW APPEARS TOO WEAK TO PRODUCE ADVISORY LEVEL
WIND GUSTS FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL COASTAL AREAS THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING HOURS. THE PROXIMITY AND TRACKING OF THE LOW ALSO
APPEAR NOT TO LEAD ADVISORY LEVEL GUSTS. THUS CANCELED THE WIND
ADVISORY FOR ZONES 17...22 AND 23.
MODELS ARE IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE LOW NEAR MIDDLETON
ISLAND THIS EVENING CONTINUING TO MOVE NORTHWARD AND INLAND BY
EARLY TONIGHT. ANOTHER LOW IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL GULF WILL MOVE
RAPIDLY NORTHEASTWARD TO THE NORTHEASTERN GULF THROUGH SUNDAY
NIGHT WITH ASSOCIATED WEATHER FRONT MOVING ACROSS THE EASTERN GULF
AND SOUTHEAST ALASKA. THIS LOW WILL INTENSIFY QUICKLY AS IT MOVES
ACROSS THE GULF TONIGHT. MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED WITH
THE SYSTEM ACROSS THE FORECAST DOMAIN LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY.
TIGHTENING EAST-WEST PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL DEVELOP ADVISORY LEVEL
WIND GUSTS BEGINNING OVER THE SOUTHERN COASTAL AREAS TONIGHT AND
SPREAD NORTH TO COVER THE CENTRAL COASTAL SECTIONS THROUGH MIDDAY
SUNDAY. GALE FORCE WINDS WITH ROUGH SEAS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN OUTSIDE WATERS AND INNER CHANNELS WITH OCEAN ENTRANCES.
SMALL CRAFT WINDS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE REST OF THE INNER CHANNELS.
.LONG TERM...PROGRESSIVE HI AMPLITUDE PATTERN DEPICTED IN GLOBAL
MODELS FOR LONG RANGE. THIS MEANS TRANSITIONS FROM TROUGH TO RIDGE
TO TROUGH NEXT WEEK. TIMING OF THE TRANSITIONS HAS BEEN
INCONSISTENT BETWEEN MODELS PAST FEW DAYS. THE MOST BASIC EFFECT
BY OPERATIONAL GFS IS WET START TO WEEK THEN H5 RIDGING OVER GULF
STARTING ABOUT THUR AND INCREASING COOL/DRY OFFSHORE FLOW. THE GFS
ENSEMBLE MEAN PROGRESSES SAME UPPER RIDGE INLAND TO ROCKIES BY FRI
AND MORE WET SW FLOW INTO PANHANDLE. ENSEMBLE CONFIDENCE /RMOP/ IS
HIGHEST WITH TROUGHING OVER SW CONUS RIDGING NW US/CANADA AND N
PAC TROFS OF ALEUTIANS. PREVIOUS FCSTS LEANING MORE TO GFS DUE TO
LESS RUN TO RUN VARIATION. WILL KEEP SCREAMING MESSAGE AT START OF
EXTENDED RANGE TO BE WET SUN NIGHT TURNING TO SHOWERS MONDAY.
PROBABLE SCA WINDS FROM RISING PRESSURE TENDENCY.
WITH THE 12Z ECMWF AND GFS COMING MORE INTO LINE WITH ONE ANOTHER
DID START THE TREND OF DRIER/COOLER WEATHER IN THE GRIDS DAY 5 ONWARD
TOWARD A SOLUTION MORE CONSISTENT WITH HPC GUIDANCE. WHILE
OFFSHORE FLOW AND DRIER WEATHER DOES LOOK MORE LIKELY NEAR THE END
OF THE WEEK AND INTO NEXT WEEKEND THE SOURCE REGION FOR THE COLDER
AIR REMAINS RATHER WARM FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR AS TEMPERATURES
ACROSS INTERIOR ALASKA HAVE NOT COOLED TO NEAR CLIMATOLOGICAL
NORMS. THEREFORE DID NOT COOL TEMPERATURES BUT A FEW DEGREES IN
EXTENDED AS OF YET. OTHERWISE CHANGES TO THE GRIDS IN THE EXTENDED
WERE MADE TOWARD HPC GUIDANCE TO INCREASE THE OFFSHORE FLOW DAY 5 ONWARD.
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 3 PM AKDT SUNDAY FOR
AKZ027-028.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 3 AM TO NOON AKDT SUNDAY FOR AKZ022.
WIND ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO NOON AKDT SUNDAY FOR
AKZ023.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 3 AM TO 3 PM AKDT SUNDAY FOR AKZ029.
MARINE...GALE WARNING FOR PKZ022-033>036-041>043-051-052.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ011>013-021-031-032.
&&
AHN/TA/PSS1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Hydaburg AWOS (PAHY) observed a measured gust of 50 KT at 0836 AKST on 10/25. Numerous gusts in the 40s were measured on the night of 10/24 into the morning of 10/25.
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, October 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: 199364.