High Wind, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- August 23, 10:50 PM AKST to August 24, 2:51 AM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Measured
- 62 kt (71 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- AWOS
High Wind in Alaska, August 23 to 24, 2012
A strong occluded front associated with a 976 mb low in the Gulf of Anadyr approached the Bering Strait coast late on the evening of the 23rd into the early morning of the 24th. There was a peak wind gust to 62 kt/71 mph at the Wales AWOS during the early morning hours of the 24th.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 AFG wrote it up.
A strong occluded front associated with a 976 mb low in the Gulf of Anadyr approached the Bering Strait coast late on the evening of the 23rd into the early morning of the 24th. There was a peak wind gust to 62 kt/71 mph at the Wales AWOS during the early morning hours of the 24th. The wind gusted over 60 mph at times from 2250AKST on the 23rd through 0116AKST on the 24th. At Teller, there was a peak wind gust to 52 kt/60mph at the Teller AWOS at 0251AKST on the 24th.
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 Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 23, 1:02 PM AKST, 9 hours 48 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 23, 1:02 PM AKST, 9 hours 48 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 202 PM AKDT THU AUG 23 2012 .DISCUSSION... MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH AT LEAST 48 HOURS. A STRONG 976 MB LOW IS PUSHING EAST ACROSS FAR EAST RUSSIA AND WILL MOVE INTO THE CHUKCHI SEA EARLY FRI MORNING. STRONG SOUTH WINDS FROM NORTH OF THE BERING STRAIT WILL PUSH AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND BEGIN TO IMPACT THE COASTAL AREAS WITH HIGH SURF. AT THIS POINT IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT MAJOR COASTAL FLOODING WILL OCCUR ANYWHERE OVER THE WEST COAST. HOWEVER HIGH SURF WILL OCCUR AND WILL CAUSE MINOR COASTAL FLOODING OVER LOW LYING AREAS AS WELL AS AROUND THE KIVALINA AREA. THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND WILL NOT REMAIN OUT OF THE SOUTH FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME AT A HIGH VELOCITY. THIS IS THE REASONING FOR OPTING FOR A HIGH SURF ADVISORY INSTEAD OF ANYTHING MORE SEVERE. MODERATE RAINS WILL ACCOMPANY THE STORM AND THIS WILL ADD TO THE WATER LEVELS IN THE LAGOON AREA AROUND KIVALINA BUT NORTHWEST WINDS SHOULD NOT OCCUR THAT WOULD ADD TO FLOODING ISSUES FOR THE LAGOON AREA. EXPECT HIGH SURF IN NORTON SOUND. HIGH SURF ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR ZONES 211 AND 212. THE NOME COUNCIL ROAD WILL LIKELY SEE WATER PUSHED OVER IT AS WELL AS POSSIBLY MINOR FLOODING IN AND AROUND UNALAKLEET. RAINFALL OVER THE WEST COAST FROM ABOUT THE SEWARD PENINSULA SOUTHWARD WILL BEGIN AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT AND THEN SPREAD EASTWARD TO THE WESTERN INTERIOR BY EARLY FRI AND THEN SPREAD EASTWARD TO THE CENTRAL INTERIOR BY FRI AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS WILL PUSH MUCH COOLER AIR BEHIND THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE INTERIOR BY FRI NIGHT. WHAT MAY BE ELUSIVE AT THE MOMENT IS HOW STRONG THE WINDS MAY BECOME BEHIND THE LOW AND THE WRAP AROUND FRONTAL BOUNDARY. IT MAY PRODUCE WINDS HIGHER THAN THE MODELS INDICATE. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE && .FIRE WEATHER...DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR WILL BE REPLACED && .HYDROLOGY...MODERATE RAINS IN THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE STATE WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS HIGHER AND NEAR BANK FULL IN SOME AREAS. EXPECT ABOUT A HALF INCH OF RAINFALL IN THE NORTHWEST INTERIOR THROUGH FRI NIGHT. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR AKZ207-AKZ211-AKZ212-AKZ213. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ230-PKZ240-PKZ245. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225. && CF AUG 12
Event by event
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 23, 2012
- Tornado and Hail in Minnesota, August 23, 2012
- Wildfire in Missouri, August 23, 2012
- Tropical Storm and Flash Flooding in Puerto Rico, August 23 to 24, 2012
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 23, 2012
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 23 to 24, 2012
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Arizona, August 23, 2012
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, August 23, 2012
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 23, 2012
- Waterspouts in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, August 23, 2012
- Damaging Wind in New Mexico, August 23, 2012
- Flash Flooding in South Carolina, August 23, 2012
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, August 2012
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: 393838.