A triple point low moved through the Eastern Aleutians, causing brief high winds at Dutch Harbor.
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 triple point low moved through the Eastern Aleutians, causing brief high winds at Dutch Harbor.
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 Dec 23, 4:41 AM AKST, 6 hours 52 minutes earlier.
Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Anchorage AK 441 AM AKST Fri Dec 23 2016 .ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS... There is a progressive upper level ridge over southwest Alaska and the eastern Bering Sea. A weak "ridge-topping" trough currently stretches north-northwest from Kodiak Island to Norton Sound. There is an upper level low situated south of the central Aleutians. An associated surface low is deepening and moving to the north. A strong low associated with a more vigorous upper trough is located to the southwest of the western Aleutians and moving rapidly eastward. The low that has been in the Gulf of Alaska the last few days is now in the southeast Gulf and moving quickly away to the south-southeast. && .MODEL DISCUSSION... The numerical models are in good agreement this morning. There are some differences with how they handle the merging lows in the Bering Saturday and Saturday night, but these differences do not impact the forecast very much. && .AVIATION... PANC...Areas of fog and low clouds will persist. VFR conditions are preferred this afternoon with the for retreating back to the knik arm. The fog should move back in again in the evening, but will then dissipate tonight as offshore flow increases. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 and 2)... An upper level trough moves through the Cook Inlet to the MAT-SU corridor today and into western Canada tonight. A few flurries are expected with this feature. Areas of fog across the Anchorage Bowl should diminish by afternoon. There will probably be a little more fog again tonight, but not as extensive. Pressure gradients begin to relax today so outflow winds across the eastern Kenai Pen and North Gulf Coast will diminish. The focus then shifts to a strong weather front approaching the southern Gulf late tonight. The front then pushes to the northern Gulf Sat night. This front will bring widespread gales with some storms to the marine areas and strong wind/gap flows across the northern Gulf/eastern Kenai Pen as it heads north. Warming temps will accompany abundant moisture and will spread north. Precipitation will start briefly as snow across Kodiak tonight, but then rapidly shifting to rain. Snow should spread to the Kenai Pen by Sat afternoon and be heavy at times over the eastern Kenai Pen through Sat night. Coastal areas however should start to see a mix of snow and rain. Strong winds coinciding with moderate to heavy snowfall could produce blizzard conditions in turnagain Pass and Portage Valley Sat afternoon through Sat night. There is still some uncertainty as to the degree of warming that will occur in Portage Valley. Temps in this area could rise into the mid 30s Sat evening and produce a fairly wet snow or mix and mitigate the potential for blowing snow. Turnagain pass should safely stay all snow through Sat night. That said, issued a blizzard watch for both areas. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA (Days 1 and 2)... After some areas of fog this morning, higher clouds in advance of the Bering front will arrive. Strong warm advection southeast flow will also begin this afternoon. Some light snow will begin along the coast tonight and spread inland on Sat. Heaviest snowfall is expected on the upwind side of mountains north of Togiak and Manokotak during the day Sat, tapering off Sat night into Sun. Other areas in the Bristol Bay region will have snow mixing with rain beginning Sat. Wind and snow northwest of Bethel will produce areas of blowing snow on Sat, with some reduction in visibility. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days 1 and 2)... The Bering front will spread rain and gale force winds across the eastern Bering through tonight before moving across the Alaska Peninsula and into the mainland on Sat. Some storm force winds are also expected south of Dutch Harbor today. A second low affects the western Aleutians later today with rain and some snow showers, as well as small craft and gale force winds. These conditions will spread east through the weekend. && .LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 3 through 7)... A gale-force front will bring snow to the north Gulf coast on Sunday while the Cook Inlet region remains downsloped and dry. Western Prince William Sound will take the brunt of this system. The same front will be weakening over the southwest, leaving scattered rain and snow showers in the area. The responsible low pressure system will encompass most of the Bering, but will have little in the way of forcing for widespread precipitation. Look for scattered to numerous showers across the area. The extended forecast begins late Sunday with the same pattern. A broad trough sits over the Bering with the jet stream to the south of the Aleutians. The previous front will hang against the north Gulf coast, then fall apart while the trough gradually shifts eastward. Toward the middle of next week, a pattern change is underway as a developing Kamchatka low looks to amplify the pattern over the western Bering. This will bring ridging, a front, and warmer air to the Bering, while the Southcentral will remain in a weak outflow pattern with clear sky, light winds, and enhanced gap winds along the coast. && .AFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...Blizzard Watch 125. MARINE...Storm Warning 130 172. Gale Warning 120 131 132 136 137 138 141 150 155 160 165 170 171 173 174 175 176 179 180 181 185. && SYNOPSIS AND MODEL DISCUSSION...BL SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...RC SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS...DS LONG TERM...MTL
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A peak gust of 74 kts was measured on a secondary wind sensor on the Unalaska Airport runway.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2016
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: 670667.