High Wind, Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys
- When
- December 7, 10:39 AM AKST to December 9, 7:57 AM AKST
- Where
- Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys forecast zone
- Measured
- 77 kt (89 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- RAWS
High Wind in Alaska, December 7 to 10, 2014
With strong high pressure over the Arctic ocean, and low pressure over the Gulf of Alaska. A strong belt of winds developed along the southern slopes of the Brooks Range as well as over the city of Point Hope.
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.
With strong high pressure over the Arctic ocean, and low pressure over the Gulf of Alaska. A strong belt of winds developed along the southern slopes of the Brooks Range as well as over the city of Point Hope. High winds were reported at:
Zone 207 - Point Hope AWOS highest gust was 78 mph (68 kt). At Kivalina, wind gusts did not exceed 45 mph (39 kt).|Zone 217 - The Howard Pass Remote Automated Weather Station (RAWS) reported a max gust of 89 mph (77 kt) before it stopped reporting. The Noatak RAWS reported a max gust to 68 mph (59 kt).
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 Dec 7, 3:54 AM AKST, 6 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 7, 3:54 AM AKST, 6 hours 45 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 354 AM AKST SUN DEC 7 2014 .DISCUSSION... MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH AT LEAST 60 HOURS. NEARLY STATIONARY HIGH ALOFT WILL REMAIN PARKED OVER THE AREA JUST NORTHWEST OF WRANGEL ISLAND THROUGH AT LEAST THE END OF THE WEEK. RIDGE EXTENDING FROM THE WESTERN UNITED STATES AND CANADA RUNNING ALL THE WAY UP TO NEAR THE SEWARD PENINSULA WILL BEGIN TO RETREAT BACK EASTWARD MON NIGHT AND TUE. UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL SET UP OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA AND REMAINING NEARLY STATIONARY THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. SEVERAL IMPULSES WILL MOVE NORTH AND EASTWARD AROUND THE LOW IN THE GULF AND PROVIDE THE POSSIBILITY FOR OCCASIONAL LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS OVER NORTHERN ALASKA THROUGH THE WEEK. AREAS JUST NORTH OF THE ALASKA RANG WILL LIKELY BE PRECIP SHADOWED OUT FOR THE MOST PART. THE GRADIENT WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVER NORTHERN ALASKA THROUGH MON WITH STRONG HIGH NORTHWEST OF WRANGEL ISLAND AND STRONG LOW IN THE GULF OF ALASKA. THIS WILL INCREASE WINDS OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHERN ALASKA SO WIND ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR THESE AREAS. SOME BLOWING SNOW WILL ACCOMPANY THE WINDS BUT SHOULD NOT BE OF A LARGE IMPACT. WIND CHILL VALUES COULD BECOME AND ISSUE BEGINNING THE FIRST PART OF THE WEEK ON THE ARCTIC SLOPE AND COAST SO THESE WILL NEED TO BE WATCHED AS WE GET CLOSER IN TIME. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ217-AKZ219-AKZ220-AKZ221. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ205-AKZ206-AKZ218. HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ220. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ230-PKZ245. && CF DEC 14
Event by event
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Chukchi Sea Coast
- When
- December 8, 9:16 AM AKST to December 10, 6:56 AM AKST
- Where
- Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
- Measured
- 68 kt (78 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
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 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: 548037, 548035.