A rapidly strengthening low developed south of the eastern Aleutian Islands and moved into the Norton Sound area by the afternoon of October 8th. As this low traversed the area it produced strong winds over much of southwest and south central Alaska and high surf along the Southwest Alaska Coast.
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 rapidly strengthening low developed south of the eastern Aleutian Islands and moved into the Norton Sound area by the afternoon of October 8th. As this low traversed the area it produced strong winds over much of southwest and south central Alaska and high surf along the Southwest Alaska Coast.
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 Oct 7, 12:25 PM AKST, 15 hours 25 minutes earlier.
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
125 PM AKDT MON OCT 7 2013
.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...A HIGH AMPLITUDE TROUGH CONTINUES TO
DIG SOUTHEASTWARD OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL PACIFIC WITH CAUSING
AMPLIFICATION OF THE DOWNSTREAM RIDGE OVER THE EAST PACIFIC. THE
FOCUS THIS MORNING IS IN THE ZONE BETWEEN THE TWO WHERE A 160KT+
SUBTROPICAL JET IS TRANSPORTING TROPICAL MOISTURE NORTHWARD ACROSS
THE EASTERN BERING SEA TO MAINLAND ALASKA. THE PERCENT OF NORMAL
TPW (TOTAL PRECIPITABLE WATER) SATELLITE PRODUCT SHOWS A LONG
FETCH OF GREATER THAN 200% OF NORMAL TPW. THE GEFS (GLOBAL ENSEMBLE
FORECAST SYSTEM) ANOMALIES ALSO REFLECTS THE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT
OF MOISTURE WITH STANDARDIZED ANOMALIES OF ABOUT 4 TO 5 1/2 FOR
SPECIFIC HUMIDITY AS ALL OF THIS MOISTURE MOVES ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
MAINLAND THE NEXT 24 HOURS. CYCLOGENESIS IS ONGOING WEST OF DUTCH
HARBOR AND EXPECT RAPID INTENSIFICATION OUT AHEAD OF AN UPPER WAVE
AND JET STREAK TRACKING UP THE EAST SIDE OF THE TROUGH. RAIN IS
SPREADING WELL OUT AHEAD OF THE DEVELOPING SURFACE SYSTEM INTO
SOUTHWEST ALASKA THIS MORNING.
.MODEL DISCUSSION...THERE ARE STILL SOME MINOR DIFFERENCES IN
TRACK OF THE DEVELOPING STORM...BUT NOTHING SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH
TO FUNDAMENTALLY AFFECT THE FORECAST. ALL SOLUTIONS HAVE CONVERGED
ON BOTTOMING THE LOW OUT IN THE LOWER TO MID 960S EARLY TUESDAY
MORNING LEADING TO INCREASED CONFIDENCE IN THE WIND FORECAST.
THERE IS ALSO DECENT AGREEMENT WITH NEXT SYSTEM MOVING INTO THE
BERING SEA ON WEDNESDAY. THUS...FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS ABOVE
AVERAGE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
.SHORT TERM FORECAST...CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS ON TRACK AS THIS
MAJOR EARLY SEASON STORM SYSTEM RAPIDLY TRACKS TO THE WEST COAST
OF ALASKA EARLY TUESDAY MORNING AND THEN RAPIDLY WEAKENS OVER
INTERIOR ALASKA TUESDAY NIGHT. WITH GREATER CONFIDENCE IN THE STORM
TRACK AND DEPTH HAVE FINE TUNED THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR ANCHORAGE.
AS IS TYPICAL IN THESE TYPE OF EVENTS...EXPECT VARYING WINDS AND
DIFFERENCES IN TIMING/DURATION OF WINDS ACROSS ANCHORAGE AND
VICINITY. SOME OF THE KEY POINTS FOR THIS HIGH WIND EVENT FOR THE
ANCHORAGE AREA INCLUDE...A FAST MOVING SYSTEM WITH A SHORT DURATION
OF THE HIGHEST WINDS (ESPECIALLY FOR MOST OF THE ANCHORAGE BOWL)...A
LACK OF A TRAPPING INVERSION AT OR ABOVE MOUNTAIN TOP WHICH WILL
KEEP THE MOST EXTREME WINDS CONFINED TO THE UPPER HILLSIDE...AND A
SATURATED NON-FROZEN GROUND WHICH MEANS TREES WILL BE MORE
SUSCEPTIBLE TO FALLING OVER IN HIGH WINDS.
SHIFTING THE FOCUS TO THE SOUTHWEST COAST...MODELS NOW BOTTOM THE
LOW OUT A LITTLE FURTHER NORTH THAN PRIOR RUNS WHICH MEANS WINDS
COULD BE A LITTLE STRONGER THAN FORECAST ALONG THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA
COAST TUESDAY AFTERNOON. WHEN FACTORING IN PRESSURE RISES...WEAK
COLD ADVECTION...AND A MORE UNSTABLE AIR MASS ON THE BACK SIDE OF
THE LOW COULD SEE A FEW ISOLATED GUSTS NEARING WARNING LEVELS.
STORM SURGE GUIDANCE HAS SETTLED IN ON A VERY MARGINAL EVENT.
THEREFORE...ISSUED A HIGH SURF ADVISORY FROM HOOPER BAY TO GOODNEWS
BAY TO HIGHLIGHT HIGH WAVE ACTION AND SURF WITH MINOR COASTAL
EROSION. THE IMMEDIATE COAST IS USED TO SEEING THESE TYPES OF
WINDS...BUT THEY ARE RARER FOR INTERIOR AREAS OF SOUTHWEST ALASKA.
WITH PRESSURE RISES OF 2 MB OR MORE PER HOUR EXPECT STRONG WINDS
TO EXTEND INLAND ACROSS MOST OF SOUTHWEST ALASKA TUESDAY AFTERNOON
THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT.
WITH SUCH ABUNDANT MOISTURE RAIN WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES AS THIS
SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH. AT THIS POINT IN TIME MAJOR RIVERS AND STREAM
ARE RUNNING FAIRLY LOW...SO DON'T ANTICIPATE ANY FLOODING PROBLEMS
THERE. HOWEVER...THERE WILL BE RAPID RISES ON THE SMALLER CREEKS
AND STREAMS DURING PERIODS OF INTENSE RAINFALL...SO THERE COULD BE
LOCALIZED FLOODING AND MINOR PONDING OR FLOODING IN LOW LYING URBAN
AREAS.
AS THE LOW WEAKENS OVER INTERIOR ALASKA TUESDAY NIGHT AN UPPER WAVE
CROSSING THE BERING SEA WILL DROP DOWN THE BACK OF THE TROUGH INTO
THE GULF OF ALASKA ACCOMPANIED BY LOW LEVEL COLD ADVECTION...SURFACE
PRESSURE RISES...AND WITH A RIDGE BUILDING IN BEHIND IT. ALL OF THESE
POINT TOWARD VERY STRONG WINDS THROUGH GAPS OF THE ALASKA PENINSULA
AND ACROSS THE GULF OF ALASKA. THIS WILL ALSO PRODUCE SOME MORE
LOCALIZED GAP WINDS ALONG THE NORTH GULF COAST AND IN PRINCE WILLIAM
SOUND.
WITH VERY PROGRESSIVE UPPER LEVEL FLOW THERE WON'T BE MUCH BREAK
BEFORE THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM MOVES IN. THIS PARTICULAR LOW WILL
BOTTOM OUT OVER THE FAR WESTERN BERING SEA TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND
WILL BE WEAKENING AS IT TRACKS TO THE EASTERN BERING SEA THURSDAY.
THEREFORE...EXPECT MUCH MILDER WEATHER AND IMPACTS FROM THIS
STORM...ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHERN MAINLAND.
.LONG TERM FORECAST...LOOK FOR PROGRESSIVE UPPER FLOW AND ACTIVE
WEATHER TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA DURING THE
DAY 4 THROUGH 7 PERIOD.
.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 101.
HIGH SURF ADVISORY 155 161.
MARINE...STORM WARNING...119.
GALE WARNING...120 125 130 131 132 136 137 138 139 140 141
150 155 160 165 171 172 173 174 175 176 177
178 179 180 181 185.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.
SEB OCT 131 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
At least four locations reached 78 mph gusts with the strongest being an 84 mph gust recorded at a mesonet site near Potter Marsh. Over 3500 homes lost power for a portion of the morning during this event. 2000 in the Muldoon area and another 1500 on the Anchorage Hillside.
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, October 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: 473427.