Name: High Wind in Alaska, January 21, 2014
Start: 2014-01-21T12:39
End: 2014-01-21T18:00
Location: Alaska

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 980 mb low pressure system moved into the southern Bering Sea on the 21th of January. The associated occluded front from this system moved north toward the Alaska Range, causing high winds at several locations:

Zone 226: Peak wind gust of 59 kt (68 mph) reported at the U.S. Army mesonet site named Texas Condo.

Zone 226: Peak wind gust of 63 kt (72 mph) reported at the U.S. Army mesonet site named Texas Range.

Zone 226: Peak wind gust of 55 kt (63 mph) reported at the U.S. Army mesonet site named OP10A.

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 Jan 21, 4:14 AM AKST, 8 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 4:14 AM AKST, 8 hours 25 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
414 AM AKST TUE JAN 21 2014

.DISCUSSION...

MODELS...ARE IN FAIR AGREEMENT OUT TO AROUND 60 HOURS. PREVIOUS
DISCUSSION NOTED THAT THE NAM HAS NOT BEEN VERY GOOD LAST FEW
DAYS...BUT IT IS IN LINE WITH THE OTHER MODELS THIS RUN.

ALOFT...AT 500 HPA...RIDGE UP THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA
EXTENDING INTO THE INTERIOR WITH 540 DAM HEIGHTS AS FAR WEST AS
GALENA. A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES ARE MOVING UP THE FACE OF THE RIDGE
OVER THE EASTERN BERING SEA...THE WEST COAST...AND THE WESTERN
INTERIOR. A MAJOR SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TODAY AS IT
MOVES FROM OVER BRISTOL BAY THIS MORNING TO THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA
THIS AFTERNOON...THEN EXTENDS FROM OVER ST LAWRENCE ISLAND TO
DENALI PARK THIS EVENING...AND MOVES OVER THE BROOKS RANGE
TONIGHT. AT 850 HPA...WARM AIR CONTINUES TO SURGE NORTH WITH THE
ZERO ISOTHERM PUSHING TO THE EASTERN ARCTIC COAST THIS MORNING.
COLD AIR WILL START PUSHING BACK IN FROM THE WEST LATER TODAY WITH
MOST AREAS BACK BELOW ZERO BY TOMORROW MORNING.

SURFACE...976MB LOW JUST NORTHWEST OF ST MATTHEW ISLAND WILL
CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHWEST. A 985MB LOW WILL DEVELOP NEAR THE
BERING STRAIT THIS AFTERNOON AND MOVE INTO THE CHUKCHI SEA
TONIGHT. RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN IN PLACE OVER THE
EASTERN HALF OF THE STATE. TROUGH OVER THE ARCTIC COAST WILL BE
ENHANCED AS THE DECAYING FRONT MOVES TO THE ARCTIC COAST TONIGHT.
SPOTTY PRECIPITATION THIS MORNING WILL BE MORE ORGANIZED WITH THE
NEXT WAVE MOVING NORTH. STILL A CHANCE FOR SOME FREEZING RAIN OUT
WEST BUT WITH THE TEMPERATURES FALLING LATER TODAY THAT WILL
DIMINISH. STILL LOOKS GOOD FOR SOME HEAVY SNOW UP THE WEST COAST
AS THIS NEXT WAVE WORKS NORTH. NEXT SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE WEST
COAST LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF CHINOOK
WINDS TO THE ALASKA RANGE.

ARCTIC COAST...CLOUDY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL...BUT NOT MUCH IN
THE WAY OF PRECIPITATION WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST
WHICH WILL GET SOME SNOW. TROUGH HAS SET UP OVER THE COAST AND
WINDS HAVE INCREASED. EXPECT THEM TO PICK UP A LITTLE MORE AS THE
DAY GOES ON SO BLOWING SNOW WILL BE A PROBLEM FOR MOST OF THE
COASTAL AREAS.

WEST COAST AND WESTERN INTERIOR...MST OF THE ACTION WILL BE
FOCUSED OUT HERE AGAIN TODAY AS FRONT MOVES NORTH. WINDS WILL
CONTINUE TO BE STRONG ALONG THE COAST BUT EXPECT THEM TO LET UP
TONIGHT AFTER THE FRONT PASSES. EXPECT SOME PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW
WITH THE FRONT. LOTS OF BLOWING SNOW ACROSS THE AREA TODAY...BUT
NOT EXPECTING BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE STEADY OR
FALLING FOR MOST AREAS TODAY.

INTERIOR...PRETTY QUIET. EXPECT SOME STRONG WINDS THROUGH THE
ALASKA RANGE AGAIN TODAY. PRECIPITATION WILL BE VERY SPOTTY AND
MAINLY WEST OF FAIRBANKS TODAY. TONIGHT WE COULD SEE A FEW FLAKES
IN MOST OF THE AREA AS THE FRONT PUSHES NORTH. TEMPERATURES STEADY
TODAY.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ223-AKZ225-AKZ226-AKZ227.

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ208-AKZ212-AKZ213-AKZ214-AKZ215-
AKZ216.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ201-AKZ217.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-
PKZ230-PKZ235-PKZ240.
&&

SDB JAN 14

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng

When: January 21, 12:39 PM AKST to 6:00 PM AKST
Where: Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng forecast zone
Measured: 63 kt (72 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

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 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, January 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: 493477.