A 998 mb low moving quickly from west to east across the Beaufort Sea resulted in strong westerly winds as the associated weather front swept across the Arctic Coast of Alaska. Wind gusts in excess of 60 mph were observed on the eastern Arctic Coast.
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 AFG wrote it up.
A 998 mb low moving quickly from west to east across the Beaufort Sea resulted in strong westerly winds as the associated weather front swept across the Arctic Coast of Alaska. Wind gusts in excess of 60 mph were observed on the eastern Arctic Coast.
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 Jul 20, 2:25 PM AKST, 1 hour 8 minutes earlier.
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 325 PM AKDT Sat Jul 20 2019 .DISCUSSION... The main forecast challenges for today are all wind related. A fast moving area of low pressure will bring strong wind to the Beaufort Sea coast this evening. A strong area of low pressure over eastern Russia will will bring gusty southwesterly winds to the Bering Strait, southern Chuckchi Sea and the western Brooks Range Sunday into Sunday night. The 12 UTC model suite generally initialized well when compared to observations. The models generally all paint the same picture with the overall synoptic scale features out into early part of the next workweek; however there is still a lot of fine scale differences in feature placement and and intensity. Aloft, at 500 mb, a strong shortwave that is currently moving quickly over the Arctic Coast of Alaska will move to the east into Canada this evening. The flow aloft over northern Alaska will be zonal for most of the day on Sunday. Sunday evening, a ridge that is currently over the Aleutians will build to the northeast into the southern Interior. By Monday afternoon, a 577 dam ridge will be situated over the southeastern Interior. Ridging looks to remain in place over the eastern Interior for the first half of the workweek while a series of shortwaves are expected to move to the north over the west coast. At the surface, a 998 mb low just to the north of Deadhorse will quickly move northeast into Canadian waters this evening. High pressure will build across the Arctic Coast from the west behind the low. A strong low will develop in eastern Russia on Sunday, and when combined with building high pressure over mainland Alaska will cause a tight pressure gradient over the northern Bering and Southern Chukchi Seas. The pressure gradient in the area will relax Monday afternoon as the surface low move to the west of Wrangel Island. Interior: A weather front moving to the east across the Interior this evening will bring isolated to scattered showers to the Interior this evening into early Sunday. The airmass over the Interior is relatively stable, so any thunderstorms with the front should be limited to areas to the southeast of Tok. Gusty southwesterly winds are expected with this front, especially north of the Yukon River. I did opt to issue a Wind Advisory for zone 218 with the afternoon package. The winds will die off Sunday morning as the front moves away. Precipitation will be limited for Sunday and Monday as the ridge builds overhead. With the ridge building overhead we expect a warming trend in temperatures Sunday through Tuesday. North Slope and Brooks Range: A strong area of low pressure low pressure is quickly moving to the east across the Beaufort Sea coast bringing wind gusts as high as 60 mph to areas to the east of Nuiqsuit. The ongoing High Wind Warning for zone 204 looks to be in good shape. In addition, I added a High Wind Warning valid until 6 PM for zone 203, as well as a Storm Warning for marine area 245. The good news is that this low is very quick moving, and the winds are expected to die down later this evening. A front associated the low will bring rain this evening, primarily to areas to the east of the Dalton Highway. A front associated with a low in eastern Russia will bring rainfall to the North Slope and Brooks Range as it moves to the north. A strong low moving north across eastern Russia will tighten up the pressure gradient over the Chukchi Sea Region. There will be strong southwesterly winds across the Chukchi Sea coast Sunday night as the pressure gradient tightens, along with strong southerly gap winds in the western Brooks Range. The southwesterly winds will bring elevated surf to the Chukchi Sea coast Sunday night. Winds will die down on Monday as the low moves to the east of Wrangel Island. West Coast: The pressure gradient will tighten up over the Chukchi Sea and the northern Bering Sea as a strong low moves north over eastern Russia. This will bring gusty southwesterly winds. The strong winds will lead to elevated surf for southwest facing shorelines on St Lawrence Island, Diomede and Chukchi Sea coast south of Point Hope Sunday and Monday. We did opt is issue a High Surf Advisory, specifically for Diomede. The models suggest that a series of weather systems will bring rainfall to the west coast this upcoming week; however the exact details are a little bit fuzzy right now. Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...none, but see the west coast section above for issues in the shorter term. && .FIRE WEATHER... A weather front will bring gusty southwesterly winds to much of the eastern Interior this evening. The strongest winds are expected in the Yukon Flats. Winds will die down after midnight. The front will bring some isolated to scattered showers to the eastern Interior this evening; however, any isolated thunderstorms will be confined to areas to the southeast of Tok. Temperatures will rise across the Interior for Sunday and Monday as a ridge builds in aloft. The ridge will limit the potential for precipitation on Sunday and Monday. No Thunderstorms are expected for Sunday, while on Monday any thunderstorms will be extremely limited and will be confined areas southeast of Tok. Moisture pushing in from the southeast will bring isolated thunderstorms to areas southeast of a line from Eagle to Minchumina on Tuesday. && .HYDROLOGY... A quarter of an inch to one inch of rainfall is expected across much of the North Slope and the Brooks Range through Sunday as a series of systems move through the area. This will cause some minor rises in rivers that drain the Brooks Range. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Surf Advisory for AKZ213. High Wind Warning for AKZ204. Small Craft Advisory for PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ235. Gale Warning for PKZ240-PKZ245. && JUL 19
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A rapidly moving front moving west to east across Barter Island resulted in westerly wind gusts to 67 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, July 2019
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: 849396.