High Wind in Alaska, November 6 to 7, 2013

Name: High Wind in Alaska, November 6 to 7, 2013
Start: 2013-11-06T09:16
End: 2013-11-07T19:56
Location: Alaska

November 6 to 7, 2013 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A large and persistent area of high pressure which developed over the North Pacific forced the jet stream northward, which directed a series of very strong low pressure systems into the Bering Sea from the 6th through the 14th of November. This weather pattern transported moisture and energy from the subtropics to the Bering Sea, which strengthened several storms.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

The first in a series of storms deepened to 951 mb in the western Bering Sea on the 6th of November. The storm weakened when it moved across the Chukotsk Peninsula on Thursday the 7th and then remained nearly stationary over Wrangell Island until it merged with the second storm moving into the Chukchi Sea on Saturday the 9th. This storm produced a large area of southeast winds from 40 to 55 mph extending across the Bering and Chukchi seas. Locally higher gusts to 65 mph were observed in the coastal areas.

Zone 207: the AWOS at Point Hope reported a peak gust of 58 kt (67 mph) overnight on the 6th and early morning of the 7th.

Zone 213: the AWOS at Gambell reported a peak gust of 54 kt (62 mph) early on the 6th and the AWOS at Wales reported a peak gust of 55 kt (63 mph) during the early afternoon on the 7th.

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 Nov 6, 5:22 AM AKST, 3 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 6, 5:22 AM AKST, 3 hours 54 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
522 AM AKST WED NOV 6 2013

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH THE FIRST 96 HOURS. UPPER LEVEL
RIDGE OVER THE WEST CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STATE THIS MORNING WILL
MOVE EASTWARD THROUGH TONIGHT AND BE POSITIONED OVER THE ALASKA
CANADIAN BORDER BY FRI EVENING.

DEEP LOW THAT IS MOVING THROUGH THE BERING SEA WILL BEGIN
IMPACTING WESTERN ALASKA VERY EARLY THIS MORNING. A LARGE AREA OF
STORM AND GALE FORCE WINDS OVER THE EASTERN BERING SEA AS WELL AS
PORTIONS OF THE EXTREME WESTERN PORTION OF THE STATE.
PRECIPITATION TYPES WILL BE RAIN AND SNOW OVER THE WATER BUT MAY
BECOME ALL SNOW OVER THE LAND. ALTHOUGH SURFACE LOW MAINTAINS ITS
DEPTH FOR THE MOST PART INTO LATE TONIGHT...THE STRONGEST WINDS
AFTER TONIGHT WILL BE LOCATED OVER SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND AND
OFFSHORE OF POINT HOPE.

VERY COLD AIR WILL PUSH INTO NORTHERN ALASKA THROUGH TONIGHT
BEFORE THE NEXT SYSTEM IN THE BERING SPREADS ITS INFLUENCE OVER
CENTRAL ALASKA.

SNOW SHOWERS IN THE EASTERN INTERIOR THIS MORNING WILL GRADUALLY
END FROM THE WEST AND SPREAD EAST TODAY.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...SATURDAY SEEMS TO BE THE
DAY THAT ANOTHER BIG LOW ENTERS THE BERING SEA AND THIS TIME THE
INFLUENCE WILL BE FAR DIFFERENT THAT THE CURRENT ONE THAT IS ABOUT
TO MOVE TO THE WEST COAST. THESE WINDS ARE ADVERTISED TO HAVE A
MUCH LARGER EFFECT ON THE COASTAL AREAS ON THE SEWARD PENINSULA
THIS TIME FOR SAT.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR AKZ211-AKZ212-AKZ213.

HIGH WIND WARNING FOR AKZ211-AKZ212-AKZ213.

HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-
PKZ225-PKZ230-PKZ235.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ230-PKZ235.

STORM WARNING FOR PKZ210.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ240-PKZ245.
&&

CF NOV 13

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: November 6, 9:16 AM AKST to November 7, 1:36 PM AKST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS

High Wind, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: November 6, 6:16 PM AKST to November 7, 7:56 PM AKST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS

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

Every storm in Alaska in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, November 2013

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: 483369, 483340.