High Wind in Alaska, December 12 to 13, 2011

Name: High Wind in Alaska, December 12 to 13, 2011
Start: 2011-12-12T22:00
End: 2011-12-13T05:00
Location: Alaska

December 12 to 13, 2011 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A very potent low moved from the north Pacific into the Bering Sea producing strong wind across the central and eastern Aleutians. The peak wind was 81 mph in Dutch Harbor.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS AFC wrote it up.

A very potent low moved from the north Pacific into the Bering Sea producing strong wind across the central and eastern Aleutians. The peak wind was 81 mph in Dutch Harbor.

What forecasters said that day

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 12, 5:00 PM AKST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 12, 5:00 PM AKST, 5 hours before

SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
500 PM AKST MON DEC 12 2011

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
THE STRONG STORM THAT WAS NEAR KODIAK CITY YESTERDAY AFTERNOON HAS
MOVED INTO PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND OVERNIGHT WHERE IT HAS WEAKENED INTO
A TROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. ANOTHER INTENSE STORM SYSTEM 60 MILES SOUTH
OF ADAK CONTINUES TO MOVE TOWARD THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS. A RIDGE OF
HIGH PRESSURE HAS BUILT INTO BRISTOL BAY AND WESTERN MAINLAND.

THERE IS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE ALASKA PENINSULA AND EASTERN
BERING SEA AND A WEAK UPPER TROUGH OVER THE SOUTHERN MAINLAND.

.MODEL DISCUSSION...
THE MODELS ARE IN GENERALLY GOOD AGREEMENT BUT THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT
DIFFERENCES THAT WILL AFFECT OF THE FORECAST. WE WILL BE USING THE EC
MODEL BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN THE MOST ACCURATE AND CONSISTENT MODEL FOR
THE LAST FEW DAYS.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
THE WEAK LOW OVER PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY
AND DISSIPATE TUE AFTERNOON. THE UPPER RIDGE OVER EASTERN BRISTOL BAY
AND THE KENAI PENINSULA BECOME STATIONARY OVER THE EASTERN MAINLAND
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SNOW SHOWERS OVER SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA WILL
DIMINISH FROM THE WEST OVER MOST OF SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA TONIGHT. SNOW
SHOWERS WILL PERSIST OVER PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AND EASTERN COPPER
RIVER BASIN THROUGH TUESDAY.

THE UPPER RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN BERING WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST
ALASKA TONIGHT THEN DRIFT INTO SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA WEDNESDAY. MOSTLY
CLEAR TO PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES OVER SOUTHWEST ALASKA WILL SPREAD INTO
SOUTHCENTRAL REGION BY AFTERNOON.

THE STORM SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE CENTRAL
ALEUTIANS TONIGHT THEN TURN NORTHWEST INTO THE WESTERN BERING
WEDNESDAY. THE ASSOCIATED WEATHER FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE EASTERN
ALEUTIANS TONIGHT, THE ALASKA PENINSULA TUESDAY, MOVE INTO BRISTOL
BAY AND KODIAK ISLAND TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEAKEN OVER THE GULF OF
ALASKA WEDNESDAY. RAIN AND STRONG WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT
WILL MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALEUTIANS THIS EVENING AND
SPREAD TO THE PRIBILOFS AND THE ALASKA PENINSULA TONIGHT. THE WINDS
WILL DIMINISH AND THE RAIN WILL CHANGE TO SNOW AS THE FRONT MOVES
THROUGH THE ALASKA PENINSULA TUESDAY AND INTO THE SOUTHWEST COAST AND
KODIAK ISLAND TUESDAY NIGHT AND THE CENTRAL GULF COAST WEDNESDAY.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...
THE MID TO LONGER RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE NEXT FEW STORM
SYSTEMS INTO THE BERING SEA WITH THE ASSOCIATED WEATHER FRONT
SWINGING EAST INTO THE GULF THEN NORTH THROUGH SOUTHERN ALASKA.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALEUTIANS AND
THE PRIBILOF ISLAND.
MARINE...HURRICANE FORCE 172 175
         STORM 155 165 170 171 180 185
         GALE 132 150 160 176 179
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

NM DEC 11

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Eastern Aleutians

When: December 12, 10:00 PM AKST to December 13, 1:00 AM AKST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

High Wind, Central Aleutians

When: December 13, 2:00 AM AKST to 5:00 AM AKST
Where: Central Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 69 kt (79 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, December 2011

Sources

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: 351574, 351573.