An intense 962 MB low tracked through the Gulf of Alaska from the south and then over the Barren Islands region before weakening. A strong front associated with this low brought warning level winds to both public and marine areas.
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.
An intense 962 MB low tracked through the Gulf of Alaska from the south and then over the Barren Islands region before weakening. A strong front associated with this low brought warning level winds to both public and marine areas. The areas with highest recorded winds were Portage with wind gusts over 60 MPH from 7 AM ADT Oct 1, 2010 to 10 AM ADT Oct 2, 2010. The peak wind in Portage was 78 MPH. Whittier also had winds gusts over 60 mph from 9 AM ADT Oct 1 through 12 PM Oct 2. Whittier had a peak gust of 70 MPH at 6 AM ADT Oct 2.
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 Oct 2, 3:58 AM AKST, 3 hours 21 minutes earlier.
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
500 AM AKDT FRI OCT 1 2010
.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
A MASSIVE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH EXTENDS FROM EASTERN RUSSIA TO EAST OF
THE CANADIAN ROCKIES THIS MORNING. EMBEDDED CUT-OFF LOWS ARE OVER THE
SOUTHERN KAMCHATKA PENINSULA AND THE EASTERN BERING. AT THE
SURFACE...A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IS OVER SOUTHWEST AK WITH A
WEAK RIDGE OVER THE WESTERN BERING...AND A STRONGER RIDGE JUST EAST
OF THE PANHANDLE. A RAPIDLY WEAKENING LOW PRESSURE CENTER IS NEAR
HOMER AND THE ASSOCIATED OCCLUDED FRONT IS BRINGING SURGES OF
MOISTURE AND WIND INTO AREAS ALONG THE NORTH GULF COAST. THE NEXT LOW
WHICH WILL BE AFFECTING THE GULF IS AROUND 500 MILES SOUTH OF THE
KENAI PENINSULA.
.MODEL DISCUSSION...
MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN BRINGING THE HOMER LOW INTO THE BROAD
AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER SOUTHWEST AK LATER TODAY. BY LATE SATURDAY
THE RUN-TO RUN INCONSISTENCY OF THE GFS MAKES THE EC THE MODEL OF
CHOICE. THE LOW THAT WAS 500 MILES SOUTH OF THE KENAI PENINSULA
CURVES THROUGH THE GULF AND REACHES THE KENAI PENINSULA NEAR HOMER ON
SUN BEFORE MERGING WITH THE LOW PRESSURE OVER SOUTHWEST AK.
BY THIS TIME THE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE HAS ALREADY SPAWNED A NEW LOW
NEAR NUNIVAK ISLAND WHICH REMAINS IN THE VICINITY OF THE AKPEN
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. ON MONDAY THE THIRD LOW IN THE SERIES...AFTER
TRANSITING JUST SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS...MERGES WITH THE LINGERING
AKPEN LOW AND MOVES INTO THE CENTRAL GULF ON TUE.
.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
IN THE WEST...SHOWERS WILL PERSIST ON NORTHWEST FLOW THROUGH TUE.
WIND OVER THE EASTERN BERING WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH.
FOR SOUTHWEST AK...SHOWERS WILL PERSIST BENEATH THE BROAD AREA OF LOW
PRESSURE THROUGH MON...AND THEN DRYING CONDITIONS DEVELOP AS THE LOWS
MERGE SOUTH OF THE AKPEN AND MOVE INTO THE GULF.
SOUTH AND EAST OF THE AK RANGE...DANGEROUS WIND SHOULD END THIS
MORNING AS THE LOW MOVES WEST AND THE FRONT MOVES ONSHORE AND
DISSIPATES. RAIN WILL CONTINUE BUT GRADUALLY TAPER OFF AS ONSHORE
FLOW DIMINISHES THROUGH SAT. RAIN THEN RESUMES SUN AS THE SECOND LOW
AND ASSOCIATED FRONT MOVES TOWARD THE COAST.
.LONG TERM FORECAST...
SHOWERS ON NORTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE IN THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST
THROUGH MIDWEEK. SOUTHEAST OF THE AK RANGE WILL HAVE ANOTHER ROUND OF
STRONG WIND BEGINNING TUE ALONG THE COAST WITH RAIN SPREADING INLAND
BEFORE ENDING LATER IN THE WEEK.
.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 125 135
MARINE...STORM 120
GALE 125 129 150 155 160 165 170 179 185
FIRE WEATHER...NONE
DS OCT 101 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds gusted over 60 MPH in Whittier and Portage from the morning of October 1st through the morning of October 2nd. Peak wind was 78 MPH in Portage and 70 MPH in Whittier.
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, October 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: 255013.