A pattern shift began over the Thanksgiving Holiday which set up a blocking upper ridge over the central Gulf of Alaska. Arctic high pressure built over the Yukon up to 1058 MB causing storm force wind and heavy freezing spray in Lynn Canal.
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 pattern shift began over the Thanksgiving Holiday which set up a blocking upper ridge over the central Gulf of Alaska. Arctic high pressure built over the Yukon up to 1058 MB causing storm force wind and heavy freezing spray in Lynn Canal. As the high pressure shifted slowly SE, a Taku type wind event set up over Downtown Juneau. Williwaws in Gastineau Channel were frequent. The Maximum wind observed was 89 mph.
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 Dec 1, 5:59 AM AKST, 10 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
559 AM AKST SUN DEC 1 2013
.SHORT TERM...A VERY PERSISTENT WEAK LOW REMAINS IN THE EASTERN
GULF BUT IS NOW TRACKING AT 20 KTS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY.
THE LOW HAS BEEN VERTICALLY STACKED FOR QUITE SOME TIME AND HAS
BEEN CIRCULATING BANDS OF SHOWERS WITH GOOD UPPER LEVEL VORTICITY
SUPPORT INTO THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS, BUT
THAT APPEARS TO FINALLY BE COMING TO AN END. WHAT PRECIP IS LEFT
LOOKS TO BE CONFINED TO THE SOUTHERN ZONES, WHERE SOME SHOWER
ACTIVITY IS FORECAST FOR TODAY. RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS FELL ON THE
OUTER COAST AROUND MIDNIGHT AND AS OF EARLY THIS MORNING RAIN
SHOWERS HAVE TURNED TO SNOW SHOWERS IN KETCHIKAN.
THE STRONG NORTHERLY PRESSURE GRADIENT CREATED BY THE LOW OVER
THE GULF AND STRONG HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING SOUTH FROM THE YUKON
REMAINS IN PLACE. THIS IS PARTLY DUE TO THE SHEAR STRENGTH OF THE
HIGH, CURRENTLY FORECAST TO PEAK AT AROUND 1054 MB, AND AN
INVERTED TROUGH TRAILING BEHIND THE LOW AS IT EXITS THE FORECAST
AREA TO THE SOUTHEAST. PEAK WIND CONDITIONS SHOULD OCCUR TODAY AND
HAVE STRONG WIND HEADLINES UP FOR ZONES 17 THROUGH 20. VERY STRONG
CROSS BARRIER FLOW IN THE JUNEAU AREA HAS ALREADY RESULTED IN A 64
MPH GUST AT THE SOUTH DOUGLAS PROFILER. HAVE ISSUED A HIGH WIND
WARNING THROUGH TONIGHT AS A RESULT.
STORM AND HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNINGS REMAIN IN PLACE FOR
NORTHERN LYNN CANAL THROUGH TONIGHT. GALE WARNINGS WITH FREEZING
SPRAY FOR THE REMAINING NORTHERN INNER CHANNELS. AS CONDITIONS
RELAX FROM NORTH TO SOUTH, WINDS OVER THE SOUTHERN INNER CHANNELS
WILL PICK UP TO SMALL CRAFT LEVELS WITH GALE FORCE WINDS OVER
EASTERN PORTIONS OF SUMNER STRAIT. OUTFLOW WIND PLUMES ALONG THE
OUTER COAST CONTINUE WITH GALE FORCE WINDS OUT OF CROSS SOUND AND
INTERIOR PASSES EAST OF YAKUTAT. AS WITH WINDS OVER THE INNER
CHANNELS, WINDS OVER THE EASTERN GULF WILL BEGIN TO RELAX TONIGHT.
AS THE LOW CONTINUES TO TRACK SOUTHEAST, SKY CONDITIONS WILL
IMPROVE THROUGH THE DAY FROM NORTH TO SOUTH WITH PARTLY CLOUDY
CONDITIONS REACHING THE DIXON ENTRANCE BY LATE TONIGHT.
USED NAM FOR UPDATES TO THE SHORT TERM. FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS
ABOVE AVERAGE.
.LONG TERM...LONG RANGE FORECAST REMAINS ON TRACK WITH A LARGE
SCALE RIDGE DOMINATING THE WEATHER FOR SOUTHEAST ALASKA THROUGH A
MAJORITY OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. MODELS DIFFERENCES CONTINUE ON
SYSTEMS TRYING TO BREAK THROUGH THE RIDGE LATER IN THE WEEK SO
STUCK WITH THE WPC GUIDANCE FOR THIS TIME FRAME UNTIL MODELS COME
INTO BETTER AGREEMENT.
STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS WILL BE ON THE DIMINISHING TREND AT THE
BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD MONDAY MORNING. GALE FORCE WINDS CAN STILL
BE ANTICIPATED ACROSS THE NORTHERN INNER CHANNELS MONDAY MORNING
BUT AS THE HIGH CONTINUES TO WEAKEN AND SHIFT SLOWLY EAST THE
NORTHERLY GRADIENT WILL SLACKEN THROUGH THE DAY. WINDS WILL
GENERALLY STAY IN THE 15 TO 20 KT RANGE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE
WEEK AS THE RIDGE DOMINATES AND A WEAK PRESSURE GRADIENT SETS UP
OVER THE AREA.
WARM AIR ADVECTION ALOFT WILL TAKE SHAPE MONDAY AND CONTINUE
THROUGH MID WEEK AS THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE SHIFTS TO THE EAST
TOWARDS THE AREA. THIS HAS THE INGREDIENTS FOR PRODUCING SOME FOG
ACROSS A GOOD PORTION OF THE REGION MONDAY EVENING AND INTO
TUESDAY WITH THE WARM AIR ALOFT...LOW LEVEL AIRMASS REMAINING
COLD...AND FRESH SNOW COVER ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF
THE PANHANDLE. HAVE COVERED MUCH OF THE AREA IN PATCHY FOG FOR
THIS TIME FRAME. WARM AIR ALOFT WILL GRADUALLY MAKE ITS WAY TO THE
SURFACE THROUGH THE WEEK AS THE COLD ARCTIC AIRMASS MODIFIES.
PRECIPITATION CHANCES REMAIN VERY LOW TILL THE LATTER PORTIONS OF
THE WEEK. LATEST MODELS SUGGEST THE RIDGE WILL HOLD STRONG UNTIL
AT LEAST EARLY FRIDAY.
CONTINUED USING THE NAM THROUGH 84 HOURS DUE TO ITS BETTER
RESOLUTION ON OUTFLOW WINDS. KEPT MUCH OF THE FORECAST BEYOND 84
HOURS INTACT WITH TWEAKS MADE USING EC/GFS. HIGH CONFIDENCE
REMAINS ON DIMINISHING NORTHERLY WINDS...A GRADUAL WARM UP AND
DRY CONDITIONS THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEK. CONFIDENCE
DECREASES BY LATE WEEK WITH FRONTS MOVING ACROSS THE GULF AS
MODEL DIFFERENCES REMAIN.
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 5 AM AKST MONDAY FOR AKZ025.
STRONG WIND UNTIL 6 AM AKST EARLY THIS MORNING FOR AKZ022-025.
STRONG WIND FROM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON FOR
AKZ025.
STRONG WIND UNTIL 3 PM AKST THIS AFTERNOON FOR AKZ020.
STRONG WIND THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON FOR AKZ018-019.
STRONG WIND THROUGH LATE TONIGHT FOR AKZ017.
MARINE...HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING FOR PKZ012.
STORM WARNING FOR PKZ012.
GALE WARNING FOR PKZ011-013-021-022-031-032-035-043-051.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ033-034-036-041-042-053.
&&
FRITSCH/TPS1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Maximum wind 12/1 0623L - Alaska Marine Exchange gust to 74.5 KT. |Douglas Boat Harbor peak wind 56 KT at 0518 AKST. |Juneau AML - 1550 AKST 21g63KT. |Juneau AML - 2140 AKST 34g69kt.
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, December 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: 479227.