A moderately strong storm moved across the eastern Aleutians producing strong gusty northwest wind over the western to west central Aleutians.
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 moderately strong storm moved across the eastern Aleutians producing strong gusty northwest wind over the western to west central Aleutians.
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 27, 4:00 PM AKST, 5 hours earlier.
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK 500 PM AKDT THU OCT 27 2011 .ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS... PROGRESSIVE PATTERN CONTINUES ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT LAND AS THE NEXT IN A CONTINUING SERIES OF TROUGHS MOVES INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA. THE MAIN LONGWAVE TROUGH REMAINS CENTERED OVER THE BERING STRAIT WITH VIGOROUS DISTURBANCES ROTATING IN THE WESTERLIES NEAR THE ALEUTIANS. THE FIRST LOW IN THE GULF WILL RAPIDLY SHIFT ITS CENTER TO THE EASTERN GULF TOWARD THE PANHANDLE AS THE UPPER TROUGH REORIENTS ITSELF. WARMER SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH COLD MID AND UPPER LEVEL TEMPERATURES WILL FACILITATE SHALLOW CONVECTIVE RAIN SHOWERS DURING THE DAY...MIXING WITH SNOW AT NIGHT FOR THE NORTHERN GULF AND COASTAL AREAS. A WELL DEFINED BAROCLINIC ZONE OVER THE KUSKOKWIM VALLEY AND BRISTOL BAY ZONES BRINGS THE FIRST LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW TO THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR CONTINUING TILL FRIDAY MORNING. FURTHER WEST A NEW UPPER TROUGH/SURFACE LOW COMBO IS TAKING SHAPE OVER THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS. THE FRONTAL BAND WITH THIS FEATURE IS ALREADY OVER THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS BRINGING RAIN. THE MAIN CONCERN WITH THIS SYSTEM IS THE HIGH WINDS ON THE BACKSIDE BEGINNING TO AFFECT ADAK AND ATKA OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. .MODEL DISCUSSION... SYNOPTICALLY...MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE MAJOR SHORT TERM FEATURES BOTH AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT. NAM MODEL RELIED ON FOR SHORT TERM FORECAST. SMALL TIMING/DEPTH DIFFERENCES ARISE WITH THE SURFACE LOW MOVING INTO THE GULF THIS WEEKEND. WHILE THE DIFFERENCES SEEM NEGLIGIBLE...THE EXACT PLACEMENT OF THE SURFACE/LOW LEVEL FEATURES WILL DETERMINE THE DEGREE OF DOWNSLOPING AND SUBSEQUENT PERIODS OF PRECIPITATION FOR THE ANCHORAGE BOWL. BY THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK MODELS START TO GET OUT OF PHASE WITH EACH OTHER WITH THE LONGWAVE PATTERN SHIFTING TO THE EAST AND A POLAR VORTEX SHIFTING TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN ARCTIC. .SHORT TERM FORECAST... SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...PARTLY CLOUDY TO PARTLY CLEAR CONDITIONS FOR THE COOK INLET REGION TODAY BETWEEN WEATHER SYSTEMS. RAIN SHOWERS LIKELY FOR MARINE AND COASTAL AREAS OF THE NORTHERN GULF MIXING WITH SNOW TONIGHT. PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN TO WANE ON FRIDAY MORNING ALLOWING FOR A SHORT BREAK AHEAD OF THE WEEKEND LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WHICH LOOKS TO BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN MAINLY FOR COASTAL AREAS. SOUTHWESTERN ALASKA...RETURN OF THE KING SALMON RADAR SHOWS A VERY WELL DEFINED DEFORMATION BAND SETTING UP OVER THE KUSKOKWIM VALLEY TODAY EXTENDING DOWN IN THE THE BRISTOL BAY ZONE BETWEEN DILLINGHAM AND KING SALMON. EXPECT THE SNOW BAND TO REMAIN IN TACT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING BRINGING MEASURABLE ACCUMULATION. THE NEXT SYSTEM ROTATING UP TOWARD THE AKPEN WILL BRING ANOTHER RAIN THEN RAIN/SNOW MIX ON SATURDAY TRANSITIONING TO ALL SNOW AND TAPERING OFF BY LATE SUNDAY. BERING SEA AND ALEUTIANS...FRONTAL BAND MOVING ACROSS THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS TOWARD THE AKPEN WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE RAIN THIS AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY MORNING. AS THE NEXT LOW MOVES CLOSER A MORE SHOWERY REGIME WILL AFFECT THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALEUTIANS. BEHIND THIS SYSTEM STORM FORCE WINDS WILL BE IN PLACE FOR THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL ALEUTIANS THIS EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. .LONG TERM FORECAST... TOWARDS THE END OF THE SHORT TERM THE PREDICTABLE LONGWAVE PATTERN BEGINS TO SHIFT SIGNALING AN END TO THE CURRENT STORM TRACK OF ALEUTIANS...AKPEN...GULF. UNCERTAINTY IS GOING TO INCREASE AS GUIDANCE ADJUSTS TO THE NEW DEVELOPMENT AND WILL BE DEPENDENT ON THE EXTENT AND PLACEMENT OF THE SOUTHERN EXTEND OF THE POLAR VORTEX. .AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY PUBLIC...HIGH WIND 187 191 MARINE...STORM 411 413 172 175 176...GALE 412 414 155 170 171 120 130 FIRE WEATHER...NONE MTL OCT 11
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Estimated the wind gust were at least 70 mph based upon the surface analysis and surrounding observations as the storm moved east.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, October 2011
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: 345544, 345540.