A strong Gulf of Alaska low coupled with deep cold arctic air and high pressure of the Alaska mainland produced the typical strong cold advection outflow gap winds along the coast. Winds peaked at 97 mph in Valdez.
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 strong Gulf of Alaska low coupled with deep cold arctic air and high pressure of the Alaska mainland produced the typical strong cold advection outflow gap winds along the coast. Winds peaked at 97 mph in Valdez. Strong wind in Palmer blew the roof off one house and blew over a stop light. Along with the strong wind, humidity was extremely low and the lack of snow cover resulted in extreme wild fire danger. A vehicle crash and fire spread to the grass and neighboring homes and forest. A downed power line started a fire. This required incident response from the Department of Natural Resources Forestry to extinguish the wild fires.
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 Nov 29, 5:00 AM AKST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
500 AM AKST THU NOV 29 2012
.MODEL DISCUSSION...
IN THE SHORT AND MID TERMS MODELS ARE ALL HANDLING THE MAJOR FEATURES
WELL. THE NAM WAS CHOSEN FOR ITS BETTER RESOLUTION. IN THE LONG TERM
THE GFS AND EC REMAIN IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE GEM
IS MOVING SLOWER THAN THE OTHERS AND ALSO HAS THE LOW MOVING INTO
SOUTHEAST ALASKA ON TUESDAY SIGNIFICANTLY DEEPER THAN THE OTHER
MODELS.
.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
THE MAIN LOW SITS IN THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC AND WILL REMAIN RELATIVELY
STATIONARY. OUT WEST RIDGING STRETCHES ACROSS THE CENTRAL BERING AND
THROUGH THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS. A STATIONARY BOUNDARY RESTS OVER THE
WESTERN ALEUTIANS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE RIDGE. UPPER LEVEL FLOW
OVER THE MAJORITY OF THE STATE CONTINUES TO BE OUT OF THE NORTHEAST.
.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
SOUTHCENTRAL...COLD AIR ADVECTION MOVING INTO THE SOUTHCENTRAL WILL
CAUSE WINDS TO PICKUP THROUGHOUT THE DAY. VALLEYS AND PASSES WITH A
NORTH/SOUTH ORIENTATION WILL HAVE THE STRONGEST FUNNELING AND HIGHEST
GUSTS. THE MATANUSKA VALLEY AND COPPER RIVER DELTA WILL SEE HIGH WIND
WARNING LEVEL WINDS BEGINNING THIS AFTERNOON. THOMPSON PASS WILL ALSO
SEE WINDS NEAR WARNING LEVEL. THE STRONGER NORTHERLY WINDS WILL
REMAIN FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.
SOUTHWEST ALASKA...RIDGING WILL REMAIN OVER THE BERING THROUGH THE
WEEKEND WHICH WILL LARGELY KEEP THE SOUTHWEST VOID OF PRECIP AND MOST
CLOUD COVER. THE RIDGE WILL ALSO KEEP STRONGER NORTHEASTERLY FLOW
OVER THE AREA FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.
BERING SEA AND ALEUTIAN ISLANDS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO
DOMINATE THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALEUTIANS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE
STATIONARY BOUNDARY OUT WEST WILL LAST INTO FRIDAY WHEN IT WILL
DIMINISH AS ANOTHER HIGH MOVES IN FROM THE WEST. THIS HIGH WILL MOVE
INTO THE BERING AND ABSORB THE HIGH THAT CURRENTLY RESIDES THERE.
.LONG TERM FORECAST...
THE PATTERN OF RIDGING OVER THE BERING AND LOW PRESSURE IN THE
NORTHEAST PACIFIC WILL REMAIN INTO NEXT WEEK. IT WILL FINALLY START
TO CHANGE ON TUESDAY WHEN THE RIDGING IS EXPECTED TO BREAK DOWN. THIS
CHANGE WILL BE SHORT LIVED AS RIDGING WILL BUILD BACK INTO THE BERING
BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK.
.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING...111 135
HIGH WIND WATCH...131
MARINE...GALE WARNING...126 127 128 130 138 140 155 180
HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING...126 127 121 129 130 140
141 160
FIRE WEATHER...NONE
DWK NOV 123 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gusts are estimated to be around 95 mph based upon analyzed weather charts and surrounding data points.
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, November 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: 415711, 415710, 415712.