A 974 mb low moved southward across the Alaska Peninsula and into the Gulf of Alaska. Behind this low, a 1039 high was centered over the Western Aleutians.
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 974 mb low moved southward across the Alaska Peninsula and into the Gulf of Alaska. Behind this low, a 1039 high was centered over the Western Aleutians. This caused a strong gradient with northerly flow over the Pribilof Islands, the eastern Aleutians, and the Alaska Peninsula. This storm strengthened in the Gulf of Alaska and moved onshore in the northern Panhandle. As a result, northerly gap winds intensified over the Prince William Sound.
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 Nov 22, 5:27 AM AKST, 9 hours 3 minutes earlier.
Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
527 AM AKST Wed Nov 22 2017
.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
The next incoming surface low is rapidly deepening as it crosses
the 180 degree longitude line and speeds to the northeast across
the Bering. The associated rather strong warm/occluding front is
pushing across the Pribilof Islands early this morning with the
trailing cold front moving into the central Aleutians. Further to
the east, a shearing apart upper level trough is tracking east
across southcentral Alaska while a transient ridge builds in
behind it.
&&
.MODEL DISCUSSION...
Model agreement continues to improve with regards to the strong
low tracking towards Nunivak Island this afternoon/evening,
increasing confidence in the various high wind and winter weather
impacts expected across Southwest Alaska, the eastern Bering and
Alaska Peninsula. Additionally there is good agreement with the
trough and surface low rotating into the Gulf of Alaska Wednesday
night and Thursday and the resulting increasing offshore flow.
&&
.AVIATION...
PANC...While there are a few patchy low clouds drifting around this
morning VFR conditions are expected to prevail.
&&
.SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 2)...
A sharp shortwave trough is moving through the area this morning.
This feature is dragging cold air with it (12z Anchorage UA
sounding shows -12C 850 hpa temperatures) and is pushing this cold
air through the gaps along the North Gulf Coast. Winds will peak
midday then begin to weaken as the pressure gradient weakens with
the eastward progression of the trough. Light snow today will
mainly be over the Alaska Range, Talkeetna Mountains, and Wrangell
Mountains, but some light snow will continue across the Copper
Basin.
Attention quickly turns to a fast moving front which will move
into the Gulf of Alaska, bringing a quick shot of accumulating
snow to western Kodiak Island before turning to a mix of rain and
snow. The front will reach the southern Kenai Peninsula tonight,
bringing accumulating snow to the area through morning before the
main low tracks south. Temperatures aloft will be quite cold, so
offshore winds look to really ramp up Thursday night into Friday.
The Matanuska Valley, Thompson Pass, Valdez, Kodiak, Copper
Delta, etc. will all blow hard as a reinforcing upper trough digs
in.
&&
.SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA (Days 1 and 2)...
The forecast remains largely on track with few changes made this
forecast package. A strong area of low pressure will reach Kipnuk
around midnight tonight, before dropping southeast into Bristol
Bay. An attendant cold front will sweep westward across the
Bering through the afternoon before reaching the coast of
southwest Alaska around sunset. Widespread precipitation will
develop along the front.
Taking a closer look at the model data, widespread snow will
develop ahead of the front with periods of moderate to heavy
snowfall likely. The front will eventually stall near a Bethel to
King Salmon line. Where this front stalls is important as warmer
air will push inland following frontal passage for a few hours,
before colder air advects into the region from the northwest as
the low moves along the coast. This has impacts on how much
snowfall will be seen near the coast, as a slower frontal
progression could allow for mesoscale banding to develop in the
precipitation, thus putting out higher snowfall totals. This is
something we'll keep an eye on as the system evolves.
Otherwise, look for snow to change to a rain/snow mix along the
coast, with perhaps some of the western most portions of the coast
briefly seeing all rain. Snowfall accumulations look similar to
the previous forecast package. Strong southerly winds ahead of the
front may also bring some coastal flood concerns, and the
previous headlines for this were unchanged as the models remain
consistent with this potential. Drier air will advect into the
region by Thursday night. However, gusty northwest winds will keep
blowing snow concerns in our picture.
&&
.SHORT TERM FORECAST BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days 1 and 2)...
Abrupt changes are coming over the next 24 hours as a strong cold
front sweeps eastward from the west central Aleutians this
morning to eastern portions of the AKPEN tonight. Look for
widespread precipitation to develop along the front before
northwesterly winds move in behind the front. These winds will
rapidly increase in strength with some hurricane force gusts
likely. Only minor temporal changes were made to the headlines for
the Pribilof Islands, while upgrading the watch to a warning for
zone 181 along the peninsula while adjusting the timing for both
locations. The winds will gradually diminish for all areas from
west to east for the Bering and the Aleutian chain by Friday
morning.
&&
.LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 3 through 7)...
Beginning the extended period forecast on Friday, there will be a
longwave trough over the state of Alaska, extending into the Gulf
of Alaska, with a transient ridge over the Bering Sea. Deep cold
air and a strong offshore pressure gradient over Southcentral will
continue a strong gap wind event over that region. Otherwise, most
of Southern Alaska will be dry, and rather cold, through Saturday
night into Sunday.
The forecast quickly becomes complicated as a large and very cold
trough over Eastern Siberia pinwheels a series of shortwaves into
the Bering Sea for the weekend. The first of these looks to
develops over the Bering late Saturday into Sunday then move a
front into Southwest Alaska sometime on Sunday. This will bring a
mix of rain and snow threats to Southwest before the energy moves
into the Gulf of Alaska Sunday night through Tuesday. Meanwhile, a
series of powerful lows looks poised to move through the western
Bering Sea and North Pacific along the Aleutian Chain, but huge
uncertainty develops from Monday onward. It does seem the net
effect of this pattern shift, alluded to in all the global model
guidance, is that the deep northerly flow and cold pattern over
the state will wane (at least for Southern Alaska) Monday through
midweek.
&&
.AFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...High Wind Warning 181 195.
Coastal Flood Advisory 155 161.
Winter Weather Advisory 155 161.
MARINE...Gale 120 127 130-132 150 160 173-178 351 352 411
Storm 155 165 170 171 172 179 180 181 185 412-414.
&&
SYNOPSIS AND MODEL DISCUSSION...JR
SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...Ahsenmacher
SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS...P Doll
LONG TERM...Ahsenmacher4 high wind, 1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
An avalanche in Hatcher Pass took the life of a local ski coach. Strong winds earlier in the week and low snow caused the snowpack to be very unstable.
St George ASOS reported a gust of 78 knots. Damage was sustained at the KUHB radio station on St Paul when the radio tower blew over.
Akutan AWOS measured 76 knot winds at 2:35 a.m. Warning level winds were also observed at Unalaska airport.
False Pass AWOS reported a gust to 66 kts at 9:12 a.m. Warning level winds were also observed at Cold Bay and King Cove.
The Road Weather Information System site near Wortmann's Gorge reported a gust to 76 mph. A wind gust of 83 mph was also observed at Valdez airport.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche, Matanuska Valley | 2017-11-22 | 60 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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, November 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: 726780, 726765, 726768, 726767, 726769.