A weak low pressure system moved inland over the Yukon Territory on the morning of March 9th causing a brief burst of wind at Skagway. There were no damage reports.
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 weak low pressure system moved inland over the Yukon Territory on the morning of March 9th causing a brief burst of wind at Skagway. There were no damage reports.
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 Mar 9, 5:12 AM AKST, 3 hours 48 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
512 AM AKST FRI MAR 9 2012
.SHORT TERM.../ THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT / THE REMNANTS OF THURSDAYS
WEATHER SYSTEM FINISH MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE AND
INTO CANADA. A BRIEF BREAK THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AS A RIDGE IS
FORCED THROUGH THE PANHANDLE AHEAD OF THE NEXT LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM THAT IS MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GULF OF ALASKA AND WILL
TURN NORTHEAST TO STALL ALONG 140 WEST IN THE EASTERN GULF BY
EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. THE RIDGE BEING MOVED THROUGH THE
PANHANDLE IS TIGHTENING THE PRESSURE GRADIENT AND SOUTH WINDS
OVER THE NORTHERN INNER CHANNELS ARE JUMPING UP TO SMALL CRAFT OR
GALES IN THE EARLY MORNING.
THE NEXT SYSTEMS FRONTAL BAND WILL BE MOVING INTO THE PANHANDLE
FRIDAY NIGHT BRINGING MORE GALE FORCE WINDS TO THE SOUTHERN OUTER
WATERS AND SOUTHERN INNER CHANNELS.
THERE IS A MINOR COOL DOWN OVER THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE
PANHANDLE SO THAT PRECIPITATION WILL BE A WET SNOW OR RAIN SNOW
MIX. RAIN/SNOW TOTALS SHOULD BE LESS WITH THIS SYSTEM THAN
YESTERDAYS.
&&
.LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...THE AFOREMENTIONED LOW
PRESSURE CENTER WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTH CENTRAL GULF SATURDAY
MORNING AND REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THIS LOW
WILL CONTINUE THE ONSHORE FLOW ACROSS THE PANHANDLE AND THE
LIKELIHOOD OF SHOWERS FOR SATURDAY. THESE SHOWERS LOOK TO BECOME
MORE SCATTERED THROUGH SUNDAY AND MONDAY AS THE LOW WEAKENS AND
MOVES OFF TO THE WEST AND A NEW LOW MOVES UP INTO THE SE GULF FROM
THE NORTH PACIFIC. THIS WILL ALLOW MID LEVEL FLOW TO TURN OFFSHORE
AND FURTHER DECREASE CHANCES OF SHOWERS ALONG WITH SOME BREAKS IN
THE CLOUD COVER OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE PANHANDLE MONDAY.
MOST SHOWERS DURING THIS TIME FRAME SHOULD BE SNOW AND
TEMPERATURES ALOFT ARE DECREASING SAT EVENING ONWARD...HOWEVER
DAYTIME HIGHS WILL RESULT IN SOME MIXING WITH RAIN.
ANOTHER LOW MOVES INTO THE GULF FROM THE SW LATER TUESDAY INCREASING
POPS OVER THE SW PANHANDLE WHILE CONTINUING THE SLIGHT OFFSHORE FLOW
OVER THE NORTH WEDNESDAY. CHANCES OF PRECIP BECOME MORE LIKELY AS
THE LOW MOVES NORTH AND PRECIP FILLS IN FROM SW TO NE THROUGH
THURSDAY. THIS SYSTEM LOOKS TO BRING IN WARMER TEMPERATURES AND FALL
AS MAINLY RAIN ACROSS THE SOUTH.
THE LOW PLACEMENT IN THE GULF AND STRENGTH WILL GREATLY AFFECT WINDS
THROUGH THE INSIDE WATERS. COUNTER CLOCKWISE GEOSTROPHIC FLOW AROUND
THE LOW WILL KEEP THE SOUTHERN OCEAN ENTRANCES WITH A SELY WIND
DIRECTION. THE E-W ORIENTED CHANNELS WILL SEE SMALL CRAFT LEVEL EAST
WINDS OR HIGHER...DEPENDING ON HOW DEEP THE LOW REMAINS. THE NORTHERN
CHANNELS WILL HAVE WINDS INCREASING OUT OF THE NORTH...ESPECIALLY
WHEN THE NEW LOWS MOVE UP FROM THE SOUTH AND GUSTY WINDS OUT OF
DISENCHANTMENT BAY CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE EXTENDED FORECAST PERIOD.
QUESTIONABLE WIND DIRECTIONS ARE IN STEPHENS PASSAGE AND NORTHERN
CHATHAM STRAIT WHERE THERE WILL BE A TRANSITION POINT FOR THE
SOUTHERN DIRECTION VS NORTH. ALSO STEPHENS PASSAGE TENDS TO HAVE A
MORE NE WIND DIRECTION WHERE IT OPENS UP TO FREDERICK SOUND IN THIS
SITUATION...WHILE THE OVERALL GEOSTROPHIC FLOW KEEPS THE SELY WINDS
FOR AREAS NORTH OF SEYMOUR CANAL. THE NEW LOW MOVING INTO THE GULF
ON TUESDAY NIGHT LOOKS TO BRING GALE FORCE WINDS TO THE SOUTHERN
OUTSIDE WATERS AND OCEAN ENTRANCES AND SOME WINDY CONDITIONS TO THE
SOUTHERN OUTER COASTAL AREAS AS WELL.
UPDATED THE GOING FORECAST WITH THE GFS WHICH HAS BEEN FAIRLY
CONSISTENT RUN TO RUN. IN THE SHORTER TERM MODELS WERE IN GOOD
AGREEMENT AND ALL INITIALIZED WELL SO AN ENSEMBLE APPROACH WAS USED
FOR SOME FIELDS. FORECASTER CONFIDENCE IS AVERAGE.
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...STRONG WIND UNTIL NOON AKST TODAY FOR AKZ025.
STRONG WIND FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 3 PM AKST THIS AFTERNOON
FOR AKZ018.
MARINE...GALE WARNING FOR PKZ012-013-022-031>033-036-041>043-051.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ011-021-034-035-052.
&&
BEZENEK/HANNON1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Skagway ASOS measured a gust of 60 MPH at 0853 AKST on March 9th. Gusts in the 40s and 50s persisted into the afternoon.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 2012
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: 368610.