Name: High Wind in Alaska, September 4 to 5, 2012
Start: 2012-09-04T15:00
End: 2012-09-05T14:00
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 970 mb low pressure center in the south central Bering Sea on the morning of the 4th moved to Kotzebue by the evening of the 5th and weakened to 990 mb. The associated weather front moved across the eastern Interior on the night of the 4th through the 5th, moving into Canada by late afternoon on the 5th. The resulting strong chinook flow over the Alaska Range produced high winds in and near the Alaska Range.

Zone 223: At Delta Junction there was a peak wind gust to 66 kt (76) mph at the Delta Junction ASOS during the evening of the 4th. The wind frequently gusted over 52 kt (60 mph) from approximately 1700AKST through 0000AKST on the 5th.

Zone 224: It was estimated that the wind gusted as high as 56 kt (65 mph) at the Robertson River Bridge at 1100AKST on the 5th. Some trees were knocked over by the high wind.

Zone 225: There was a peak wind gust to 55 kt (63 mph) at Otto Lake at 1615AKST on the afternoon of the 4th. Based on the peak wind gust at Otto Lake, it is likely that the wind gusted in excess of 70 mph at the Antler Creek DOT site at MP 244 along the Parks Highway.

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 Sep 4, 2:23 PM AKST, 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 2:23 PM AKST, 37 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
323 PM AKDT TUE SEP 4 2012

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH 48 HOURS. THE 973 MB LOW 50 NM
NE OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY WEAKEN AS IT
MOVES TO NEAR NOME BY WED AFTERNOON AT ABOUT 986 MB. THE TRIPLE
LOW CONFIGURATION WITH THE ASSOCIATED OCCLUDED FRONT WILL CONNECT
FROM ABOUT NOME TO UMIAT TO ABOUT 100 NM NORTH OF BARTER ISLAND BY
WED AFTERNOON. THE SURFACE LOWS WILL BE SOMEWHAT VERTICALLY
STACKED ALOFT AT THE END POINTS.

ON WED...THE LOW NEAR BARTER ISLAND WILL PULL NORTH AND DEEPEN AND BEGIN
TO BRING MUCH COLDER AIR DOWN INTO NORTHWEST ALASKA BY THU AND THU
NIGHT. CONTINUED LONG WAVE TROUGH PATTERN WITH SOUTHWEST FLOW OVER
THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STATE WILL SEND RAIN OVER MUCH OF
NORTHERN ALASKA BY THU AND KEEP THE CONDITIONS MUCH COLDER THROUGH
THE WEEKEND. CONDITIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO REBOUND MUCH BEFORE
THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK.

UPPER LEVEL GRADIENT WILL CONTINUE TO TIGHTEN OVER THE CENTRAL
INTERIOR TONIGHT. THIS WILL TRANSLATE TO WINDS THROUGH THE ALASKA
RANGE PASSES REACHING 60 TO 70 MPH IN SOME OF THE WIND PRONE
AREAS. THESE CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD RAPIDLY EAST AND
REACH THE ALCAN BORDER BY LATE WED MORNING. THEN THE FLOW BECOMES
SOUTHWESTERLY AND WILL BRING IN THE SHOWERS AND COLDER AIR WED
NIGHT AND THU TO NORTHERN INTERIOR. THE FALL PATTERN SEEMS TO BE
APPROACHING FAST OVER NORTHERN ALASKA.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...FAIRLY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE NORTHWESTERN PORTION
OF THE STATE WILL CAUSE THE RIVERS TO RISE SUBSTANTIALLY.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ223-AKZ226-AKZ227.

HIGH WIND WARNING FOR AKZ225.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ230-
PKZ235-PKZ245.
&&

CF SEP 12

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Denali

When: September 4, 3:00 PM AKST to 10:00 PM AKST
Where: Denali forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind, Deltana and Tanana

When: September 4, 5:23 PM AKST to 10:30 PM AKST
Where: Deltana and Tanana forecast zone
Measured: 66 kt (76 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS

High Wind, Upr Tanana Vly Fortymile

When: September 5, 12:01 AM AKST to 2:00 PM AKST
Where: Upr Tanana Vly Fortymile forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: COOP Observer

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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, September 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: 398316, 398314, 398315.