A massive storm force low complex developed over the Gulf of Alaska on 2/28 and persisted into 3/2. A strong front moved onto the west coast of Prince of Wales Island on the morning of 3/1 bringing strong winds that diminished around noon.
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 massive storm force low complex developed over the Gulf of Alaska on 2/28 and persisted into 3/2. A strong front moved onto the west coast of Prince of Wales Island on the morning of 3/1 bringing strong winds that diminished around noon.
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 Feb 28, 1:43 PM AKST, 14 hours 35 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
143 PM AKST SUN FEB 28 2010
.SHORT TERM...FNTL BNDRY MOVG ONSHORE THE PANHANDLE ATTM FM CDE
TO CAPE FAIRWEATHER. THIS IS AN OCFNT THAT IS SLOWLY WKNG AS IT
MOVD AWAY FM ITS PARENT LOW 600 NM S OF PAMD. THE PARENT LOW HAS
A SECOND FNTL WRAP THAT IS LARGELY CNVTV. THIS SECOND WRAP SHOULD
HAVE A REPEAT OF WIND SPEEDS CLOSE TO THOSE OCCURRING NEAR
LANDFALL AT THIS TIME. AND SHOULD BRING SFC WINDS FOR THE LARGE
SCALE ENVIRONMENT BACK UP TO CURRENT SPEEDS LATE TONIGHT.
THAT COMPLEX OF LOWS: 972 MB LOW 600 NM S OF PAMD HAS BEEN THE
PARENT FEATURE FOR A LARGE-SCALE CIRCULATION. A SECOND LOW THAT
WAS ONCE A TRIPLE-POINT FEATURE IS 973 MB AND ABT 200 NM SE OF
PADQ. A THIRD LOW IS 976 MB AND ABOUT TO MAKE LANDFALL NEAR PACV,
AND WAS A MORE RECENT TRIPLE POINT FEATURE. THESE THREE LOWS ARE
IN A WEAK CYCLONIC INTERACTION, WITH THIS CMPLX SYSTEM OF LOWS IS
BEING MOVED SLOWLY NE BY A LARGE-SCALE LOW AMPLITUDE RIDGE ALOFT
APRCHG THE OLD PARENT LOW FM THE WNW.
THE LANDFALL OF THE LOW NEAR PACV HAS RESULTED IN AN ONSHORE
FLOW THAT IN TURN IS GIVING A BARRIER ENHANCEMENT TO THE SE
WINDS. THIS SHOULD BE A SHORT WIND EVENT AS THE LANDFALLING LOW
SHOULD RAPIDLY FILL THIS AFTERNOON.
&&
.LONG TERM...MAIN CONCERN IN THE LONG TERM PACKAGE IS THE ARRIVAL
OF OUR NEXT OCCLUDED FRONT TUESDAY NIGHT. THE LONG TERM MODELS ARE
HAVING SOME TROUBLE WITH TIMING WHEN THE FRONT WILL ARRIVE. THE
GFS IS A BIT TOO FAST BUT DISPLAYS A DOUBLE BARREL LOW STRUCTURE
FOR THE ASSOCIATED LOW NEAR KODIAK. THE EC AND NAM HAVE A SLOWER
ARRIVAL TIME BUT THE EC HAS A SIMPLIFIED SINGLE LOW WHILE THE NAM
IS STARTING TO SHOW A DOUBLE BARREL LOW. THEY ALSO DIFFER ON WHERE
AND HOW STRONG THE 500 MB JET MAX IS. THE GFS AND NAM HAVE A 125
KT MAX SOUTH OF 50N ON 12Z WED WHILE THE EUROPEAN MODELS FEATURE A
105 KT MAX ON OR JUST NORTH OF 50 N AT THE SAME TIME. PREFERRED THE
SLOWER FRONTAL SPEED OF THE EC WITH THE LOW STRUCTURE OF THE GFS.
MORE RECENT RUNS SEEM TO SUPPORT THIS AS A SLOWING OF THE FRONT IS
NOTED IN THE GFS WITH A MORE COMPLEX LOW SHOWING UP IN THE OTHER
MODELS.
PRECIP TYPE WILL BE ANOTHER CONCERN WITH THIS SYSTEM AS COOLER
AIR ALOFT IS ADVECTED IN. 850 MB TEMPS OF -4 TO -6 C BEGIN SHOWING
UP OVERHEAD BY TUES NIGHT. SURFACE TEMPS LOOK TO BE COLD ENOUGH
FOR SNOW IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE PANHANDLE FOR WED MORNING AND
LATE WED NIGHT. HOWEVER MOST OF THE PRECIP WILL BE PASSING THROUGH
TUES NIGHT WHEN THE ATMOSPHERE HAS NOT COOLED DOWN ENOUGH TO
SUPPORT SNOW AT SEA LEVEL YET. SO ANY SNOW ACCUMULATION SHOULD BE
LIGHT TUES AND WED NIGHT.
FOLLOWING THIS SYSTEM A RIDGE WILL GIVE US A BREAK FROM THE WET
WEATHER FOR FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT BEFORE THE NEXT FRONT COMES
FOR SAT.
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL NOON AKST MONDAY FOR AKZ027.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 3 PM AKST THIS AFTERNOON FOR AKZ017-022-023.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM TO 6 PM AKST MONDAY FOR AKZ022-023.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM AKST MONDAY FOR AKZ028.
MARINE...GALE WARNING FOR PKZ036-041>043-052.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ011-021-022-031>035-051-053.
&&
JBT/EAL1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds occurred for the western part of Prince of Wales Island on the morning of 3/1. The strongest recorded wind was at Hydaburg AWOS with a gust of 55 KT at 0416 AKST on 3/1.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 2010
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: 220960.