A complex of unseasonable gale and storm force low pressure systems persisted in the Gulf of Alaska from 4/8 to 4/10. One low center developed to 975 MB just off Cape Decision early on the morning of 4/9 which brought hurricane force winds to Clarence Strait and storm winds up to 78 MPH near Ketchikan.
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 complex of unseasonable gale and storm force low pressure systems persisted in the Gulf of Alaska from 4/8 to 4/10. One low center developed to 975 MB just off Cape Decision early on the morning of 4/9 which brought hurricane force winds to Clarence Strait and storm winds up to 78 MPH near Ketchikan. Hydaburg on the southern end of Prince of Wales Island had a peak wind 65 MPH earlier in the morning. A brief power outage was reported in Ketchikan.
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 Apr 8, 3:12 PM AKST, 10 hours 48 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
412 PM AKDT MON APR 8 2013
.SHORT TERM...RATHER STRONG SPRING STORM RAMPING UP IN THE GULF
TODAY AND THE FIRST BANDS OF THE STORM ARE ALREADY BEING FELT
ALONG THE OUTER COAST. SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW THE FIRST LOW MOVING
NORTHWARD THROUGH THE CENTRAL GULF AT THIS TIME. A SECOND
DEVELOPING LOW IS ALSO VISIBLE OVER THE NORTHERN PACIFIC AND WILL
AFFECT THE AREA LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY TOMORROW. THE FIRST RAIN
BANDS HAVE MADE IT TO THE SITKA AREA LATE THIS MORNING. WINDS
HAVE ALSO STARTED A STEADY INCREASE ACROSS MOST AREAS. SITKA HAS
ALREADY HAD GUSTS UP TO 26 KT TODAY AND HYDABURG HAS HAD GUSTS AS
HIGH AS 32 KT.
FOR THIS EVENING THE PANHANDLE WILL CONTINUE TO DEAL WITH THE
AFFECTS OF THE FIRST FRONT AS IT MOVES THROUGH. STRONG WIND
HEADLINES HAVE BEEN HOISTED FOR THE KETCHIKAN, HYDABURG, AND SITKA
ZONES FOR THIS EVENING. WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH ARE EXPECTED FROM
THIS FIRST FRONT THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THERE WILL THEN BE A
BRIEF DOWNTURN TO THE WINDS LATE TONIGHT BEFORE THE NEXT STRONGER
FRONT COMES ASHORE FOR EARLY TUES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SECOND LOW.
THIS FRONT WILL PACK MORE OF A WALLOP AS 850 MB WINDS GET INTO THE
50 TO 60 KT RANGE. THE STRONG WIND HEADLINES FROM ABOVE WILL
CONTINUE TO REMAIN UP AS THIS SECOND FRONT MOVES THROUGH BUT WIND
GUSTS WILL GET INTO THE 50 TO 55 MPH RANGE WITH THIS ONE. THE
HIGHER WINDS WITH THE SECOND FRONT ALSO MEANS THAT AREAS FARTHER
INLAND WILL GET IN ON THE ACTION WITH AT LEAST BREEZY CONDITIONS
EARLY TUES. A STRONG WIND HEADLINE HAS ALSO BEEN HOISTED FOR THE
JUNEAU AREA FOR EARLY TUES AND THE PETERSBURG AND WRANGELL AREA
LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY TOMORROW AS A RESULT. WINDS WILL BEGIN TO
DIMINISH TUE AFTERNOON AS THE FRONT PUSHES THROUGH AND W TO SW
WINDS TAKE OVER. THE EXCEPTION WILL BE SKAGWAY AND LYNN CANAL AS
SOUTHERLY WINDS INCREASE ON TUE AS A RESULT OF THE SECOND LOW
JUMPING INLAND AND INCREASING THE SOUTHERLY GRADIENT ACROSS THE
NORTHERN PANHANDLE. EXPECTING SMALL CRAFT TO GALE FORCE SOUTHERLY
WINDS IN LYNN CANAL BY TUES AFTERNOON.
PRECIP WILL BE THE OTHER CONCERN BUT WITH RATHER STRONG WARM AIR
ADVECTION IT WILL MAINLY BE RAIN AS SNOW LEVELS RISE TO AROUND
3000 FT. THE ONLY PLACE THAT MIGHT SEE ANY SNOW WOULD BE WHITE
PASS, BUT EVEN THEN IT MIGHT BE A VERY WET SLOPPY SNOW THAT ONLY
ACCUMULATION TO A FEW INCHES. OTHERWISE EXPECT RAINFALL AMOUNTS
OF AROUND 1 TO 1.5 INCHES FOR MOST AREAS. HYDRO ISSUES SHOULD NOT
BE A CONCERN AS RIVER LEVELS ARE RATHER LOW CURRENTLY. STILL WITH
THE HIGH WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN AVALANCHE AND MUDSLIDE DANGERS WILL
INCREASE.
SHORT RANGE MODELS ARE STILL HAVING PROBLEMS WITH DEPICTING THE
SECOND LOW THAT IS COMING UP. HAVE A NICE GROUPING WITH THE ECMWF,
GEM, AND UK ON POSITION BUT THE OTHER MODELS WERE SCATTERED ALL
OVER THE NORTHEASTERN GULF WITH LOW POSITION. DECIDED TO STICK
WITH THE ABOVE GROUPING FOR SHORT RANGE UPDATES TODAY. FORECAST
CONFIDENCE IS A BIT ABOVE AVERAGE.
&&
.LONG TERM...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA WILL
SLOWLY SHIFT EAST THROUGH MID WEEK. THIS LOW WILL CONTINUE A ZONAL
WESTERLY ONSHORE FLOW ACROSS SE THROUGH THURSDAY.
TUESDAY NIGHT THE SURFACE LOW AFFECTING THE AREA IN THE SHORT TERM WILL
BE MOVING OFF INTO THE YUKON AND ALLOW THE PRESSURE GRADIENT TO
WEAKEN. OVERALL FLOW WILL BE WESTERLY WITH A SLIGHT RIDGE OVER THE
SOUTHERN PANHANDLE. CAA WILL CONTINUE POST FRONT FROM THE WEST. THIS
WILL CREATE INSTABILITY AND MAKE SHOWERS LIKELY. A SMALL SURFACE
LOW WILL DEVELOP AND LINGER UNDER THE UPPER LEVEL LOW AROUND THE
ANCHORAGE AREA...THIS WILL KEEP EVEN HIGHER POPS IN THE FORECAST
FOR YAKUTAT TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. HAVE 2-3 INCHES OF SNOW IN
THE FORECAST THERE TUESDAY NIGHT. EXPECT MAINLY SNOW SHOWERS FOR
THE REST OF THE PANHANDLE THROUGH THURSDAY...MIXED WITH RAIN
SHOWERS DURING THE DAY. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE THE BIGGEST
CHALLENGE AS THEY TEND TO BE WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS.
THURSDAY NIGHT THE UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL DIG A TROUGH INTO THE GULF
AND WILL CAUSE A SURFACE LOW TO DEVELOP AND MOVE NE INTO THE
GULF.
THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL SLOWLY MOVE EAST OVER THE
PANHANDLE THROUGH FRIDAY WITH A WEAK UPPER LEVEL LOW FORMING AT
THE BASE OF THE TROUGH SATURDAY OVER THE FAR SOUTHERN
PANHANDLE...THEN REMAIN OVER B.C. THROUGH THE WEEKEND WHILE A
RIDGE STARTS TO BUILD OVER THE WESTERN GULF. THIS WILL KEEP A NWLY
FLOW OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND...WHICH TENDS TO HAVE A
DRYING EFFECT.
MODELS HAVE DIFFERED ON THE PLACEMENT OF THE NEW SURFACE LOW...BUT
THE GENERAL IDEA OF A LOW MOVING OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE
PANHANDLE FRIDAY IS SIMILAR ENOUGH. A LOW OVER THE SOUTHERN
PANHANDLE WOULD KEEP CHANCE POPS DOWN THERE AND DECREASE POPS OVER
THE NORTH AS MID LEVEL FLOW WILL BE MORE OFFSHORE. A LOW TO THE
SOUTH WILL ALSO CAUSE SURFACE WINDS TO SHIFT TO THE NORTH. AN
INVERTED TROUGH WILL REMAIN OVER THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE THROUGH
THE START OF NEXT WEEK.
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...STRONG WIND FROM 1 AM AKDT TUESDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON FOR
AKZ026-028.
STRONG WIND FROM 7 PM AKDT THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING
FOR AKZ023-027.
STRONG WIND FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON FOR
AKZ025.
STRONG WIND FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT FOR
AKZ018.
MARINE...STORM WARNING FOR PKZ036.
GALE WARNING FOR PKZ012-022-033>035-041>043-051-052.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ011-013-021-031-032-053.
&&
EAL/HANNON2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The AWOS at Hydaburg had two hours of wind in the 60s (MPH) with a peak wind of 66 MPH at 0300 AKST. Marine observation Lincoln Rock on Clarence Strait had a peak wind of 87 KT (104 MPH) at 0800 AKDT on 4/9 and Cape Decision had a peak wind of 75 KT earlier in the morning.
A trained spotter just north of Ketchikan observed 65 KT gusts early on the morning of 4/9. A power outage was reported around that time. Marine observation Lincoln Rock on Clarence Strait had a peak wind of 87 KT (104 MPH) at 0800 AKDT on 4/9 and Cape Decision had a peak wind of 75 KT earlier in the morning.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, April 2013
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: 434966, 434965.