High Wind, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- April 30, 4:36 AM AKST to 9:58 AM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Measured
- 56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- AWOS
High Wind in Alaska, April 30, 2014
A strong warm front moved north over the Bering Sea early on the 30th, bringing high winds to Saint Lawrence Island and the Bering Strait Coast. The Savoonga AWOS reported wind gusts as high as 56 kt (64 mph) and the Wales AWOS reported gusts as high as 52 kt (60 mph).
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 strong warm front moved north over the Bering Sea early on the 30th, bringing high winds to Saint Lawrence Island and the Bering Strait Coast. The Savoonga AWOS reported wind gusts as high as 56 kt (64 mph) and the Wales AWOS reported gusts as high as 52 kt (60 mph).
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 Apr 30, 4:24 AM AKST, 12 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 4:24 AM AKST, 12 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 524 AM AKDT WED APR 30 2014 .DISCUSSION... UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE TROUGH ALONG THE ALCAN BORDER NORTH OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE IS NOW EXITING EASTWARD INTO CANADA. CURRENT MODELS AGREE IN BUILDING A STRONG UPPER LEVEL HIGH CENTERED OVER THE ALASKA INTERIOR BY EARLY THU...WITH 500 MB HEIGHTS EXCEEDING 570 DAM. THE HIGH WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD THROUGH FRI WITH MAXIMUM 500 MB HEIGHTS APPROACHING 576 DAM. CURRENT GFS AND ECMWF BREAKING THE HIGH DOWN INTO A RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR BY SAT...BUT WITH HEIGHTS CONTINUING WELL ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS. 850 MB TEMPERATURES WILL RISE TO +4C TO +6C OVER MANY AREAS BY FRI...WITH FREEZING LEVELS RISING TO 8000-9000 FT. HEIGHTS WILL BEGIN FALLING OVER THE WEST COAST AND NORTHWEST ALASKA FRI NIGHT AND SAT AS A LONG WAVE TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. MODEL SOLUTIONS BECOME QUITE DIFFERENT BY MON IN THE HANDLING OF THIS TROUGH. CANADIAN GEM MODEL IS THE MOST AGGRESSIVE IN SPREADING A COOLER WEST SOUTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA BY MON WHILE THE ECMWF HOLDS THE UPPER TROUGH OVER THE CHUKCHI SEA AND NORTHERN BERING SEA. THE GFS SOLUTION LIES SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THESE TWO EXTREMES. UPPER LEVEL RIDGING IS LIKELY TO REMAIN OVER THE SOUTHERN AND SOUTHEASTERN INTERIOR THROUGH MON. AT THE SURFACE...A 980 MB LOW ABOUT 150 MILES NORTH OF SHEMYA WILL WEAKEN TO A 998 MB LOW WEST OF THE GULF OF ANADYR BY EARLY THU.. THIS LOW WILL THEN FILL AS A NEW 1002 MB CENTER DEVELOPS ABOUT 300 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF WRANGEL ISLAND BY THU AFTERNOON. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE INTERIOR AS THE UPPER LEVEL HIGH BUILDS. PRECIPITATION...MAINLY RAIN SHOWERS...CONTINUING OVER THE BERING SEA...WESTERN SEWARD PENINSULA...AND NORTHWEST ALASKA TODAY AND TONIGHT DIMINISHING IN AREAL COVERAGE THU. OCCLUDED FRONT WILL STRETCH NORTHWARD ACROSS THE BERING AND CHUKCHI SEAS TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH LITTLE EASTWARD MOVEMENT. WARMER TEMPERATURES OVER THE WEST COAST WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT SNOWMELT. THE INTERIOR WILL SEE GRADUALLY DECREASING CLOUDS TODAY THROUGH THU AS THE UPPER LEVEL HIGH BUILDS...MOSTLY SUNNY OVER SOUTHERN INTERIOR AREAS BY THU. BY FRI... MOSTLY SUNNY OVER MOST OF THE NORTHERN ALASKA MAINLAND EXCEPT ALONG THE OUTER WEST COAST AND THE NORTHERN/WESTERN ARCTIC COASTAL AREAS. && .FIRE WEATHER... INTERIOR WILL SEE A WARMING AND DRYING TREND THU INTO THE WEEKEND. MIN RH LIKELY FALLING TO 15% OR LESS IN MANY AREAS FRI THROUGH SUN. && .HYDROLOGY... FREEZING LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO RISE THU AND REACH 8000-9000 FT MSL IN MANY AREAS OF THE INTERIOR BY FRI AND REMAIN HIGH INTO THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL RESULT IN SUBSTANTIAL HIGH ELEVATION SNOW MELT WHICH WILL LIKELY INFILTRATE INTO THE RIVERS BY THE WEEKEND. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ200. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ215-PKZ230. && APR 14
Event by event
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flooding in New Jersey, April 30, 2014
- Flooding in Pennsylvania, April 30, 2014
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Maryland, April 30, 2014
- Strong Wind in Georgia, April 30, 2014
- Strong Wind in South Carolina, April 30, 2014
- Damaging Wind in Virginia, April 30, 2014
- Flash Flood and Flooding in Virginia, April 30, 2014
- Wildfire in California, April 30, 2014
- Strong Wind in Georgia, April 30, 2014
- Flooding in New York, April 30, 2014
- Flooding in New Jersey, April 30, 2014
- Flooding in Kentucky, April 30, 2014
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, April 2014
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: 505347.