A 1046 cold arctic high covering all of NW Canada caused high winds and very low wind chills for Skagway and the Klondike Highway. Peak wind gust was 73 MPH at Skagway Airport.
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 AJK wrote it up.
A 1046 cold arctic high covering all of NW Canada caused high winds and very low wind chills for Skagway and the Klondike Highway. Peak wind gust was 73 MPH at Skagway Airport. Lowest wind chill recorded was -32F. Travel and ordinary activities were disrupted plus blowing snow on the Klondike. No damage reported.
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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 27, 2:38 PM AKST, 13 hours 22 minutes earlier.
Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Juneau AK 238 PM AKST Wed Dec 27 2017 .SHORT TERM...The main story of the week is going to be the coldest temperatures. Overnight Friday looks to be the coldest day, but with the greatest model differences. Just how cold will it be is the question. Most of the panhandle will remain in the teens and single digits Friday night. As a ridge weakens over the the contiguous U.S. and western Canadian border late Thursday, winds will lessen from gale to small craft status and less cold air advection. A system of lows pushing through the Gulf is on track for early Friday, with the easternmost low affecting mainly the southern panhandle. With this associated shortwave energy comes another shot at northeasterly flow and even colder air. Some adjustments were made to temperatures, generally a decreasing trend. Maximum temperatures for tomorrow were actually raised by a degree or two, while min's were lowered for tonight to follow the trend in the persisting pattern. Modifications made to pressure followed the GFS and Canadian early on and quickened the progression of Friday's upcoming pair of lows. Local edits were made to wind, especially over the Skagway/Haines/White Pass area, corresponding to the tightening pressure gradient over the northern panhandle. Combined with the colder temperatures, the White Pass area has the potential to see another wind chill advisory in place for Thursday night. While wind speeds aren't particularly strong for the Douglas and downtown Juneau area, mountain wave guidance is considered favorable for Thursday evening. Changes were made to the early part of POP's using a SREF/NBM/SREF blend. Most changes to QPF were made to the tonight and Thursday night period, which backed off precipitation in the southern panhandle. Any precipitation for the early period was kept at convective with CAPE values approaching 300 J/kg and unstable LI indices. Models still have somewhat good agreement at least through early Friday. .LONG TERM.../Friday through Wednesday as of 10 PM Tuesday/ Large scale pattern looks like it will be in transition during the long term. High latitude blocking appears like it will break down by late in the weekend. Meanwhile, active southern stream will continue as systems move across the NPAC into the gulf or SE Bering Sea area starting this weekend. Models continue to struggle with the individual systems with timing, track, and intensity differences noted. Larger scale pattern will evolve to a broad upper trof over the N-central PAC into the gulf, while ridging builds over western NOAM by early next week. Looking like after a fairly cold first half of the long term, warmer air will move in with the building ridge early next week. There will be an increased threat for precip from latter part of the weekend into next week as well. For the most part, did not make much change to longer range other than to deal with system for late in the week. Main change was to limit precip threat to the southern third of the area Fri and Fri night. Right now, only the GFS brings precip into the southern third, while other models keep vast majority, if not all, of their precip S of the area. Took out precip threat over about the N 2/3rds of the area for Fri-Fri night. POPs were capped at chance levels over the S during this time as well. With the lowered POPs also reduced cloud cover over the N with offshore flow going on. Temps were left alone, with still some significant differences in how much cold air gets in late this week. Current forecast represents a middle ground compromise on this. && .AJK Watches/Warnings/Advisories... PUBLIC...Strong Wind from midnight AKST tonight through Thursday afternoon for AKZ018. MARINE...Gale Warning for PKZ012. Small Craft Advisory for PKZ013-022-031-035-041. Small Craft Advisory due to Seas for PKZ042. && SS/RWT Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/Juneau
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Skagway ASOS observed 65 MPH gusts at 4 AM on 4/28. Peak wind 73 MPH in the afternoon. The wind chill was -32F. Travel and ordinary activities were disrupted. No damage reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2017
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: 725508.