A low pressure system moved northward from the Gulf of Alaska into Southcentral, deepening to 985 mb as it crossed the Cook Inlet. This cause high winds through Turnagain Arm and across the Upper Hillside.
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 low pressure system moved northward from the Gulf of Alaska into Southcentral, deepening to 985 mb as it crossed the Cook Inlet. This cause high winds through Turnagain Arm and across the Upper Hillside.
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 May 9, 3:31 PM AKST, 1 hour 39 minutes earlier.
Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Anchorage AK 431 PM AKDT Thu May 9 2019 .ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS... A developing storm system south of Kodiak has pushed a frontal boundary across the Gulf which now stretches across the western Gulf to the Kenai to Prince William Sound. The diffuse boundary is spreading clouds inland with only light rain along higher elevations. Low pressure across the Bering is initiating a few showers along the Southwest coast, otherwise weather is relatively benign. && .MODEL DISCUSSION... Models continue to stay in good agreement with timing and strength on the storm system expected to move up to the Gulf tonight crossing to the Southwest on Friday. Only minor edits were made using the higher resolution models to increase winds across Southcentral. && .AVIATION... PANC...A low moving a front across the Gulf today will bring wind challenges through Friday. Light northeasterly surface flow continues through early Friday morning. A low level southeasterly jet develops late tonight along the Turnagain arm...therefore, wind shear is expected until the surface low moves near Kodiak and the surface winds && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 and 2)... A low pressure system that is currently well south of the AKPEN will continue to move towards Kodiak and deepen. This will result in an increase of pressure gradient forces from Prince William Sound to Cook Inlet. Therefore, we are expecting some terrain enhancement and channeling for portions of Southcentral. High confidence that there will be a wind event tomorrow afternoon and into the night. The spotlight will be on Turnagain Arm and Hillside area of Anchorage. However, portions of the Knik Valley, Copper River and the Mat-Su area will also have gusty winds. The second impact from this low will be moderate to heavy rains over Prince William Sound. Most of the rain will fall along and near the coast, with cross-barrier flow limiting amounts inland but it is possible that light showers could make it into the Anchorage Metro Area. The winds will diminish on Saturday as the parent low weakens and decays. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA (Days 1 through 3)... A front associated with a deepening low tracking toward Kodiak Island will continue to spread clouds and widespread rain across Southwest Alaska through the overnight hours as it lifts to the north and west from Bristol Bay. On Friday, the low tracks northwest from southern Cook Inlet to the interior Southwest as it becomes vertically stacked. Clouds and showers will remain across the region through Saturday as both the surface low and the upper level low drift toward the Y-K Delta and a moist, southwesterly flow develops. A few embedded thunderstorms are also possible late Friday afternoon and evening from Aniak to Sleetmute as the combination of daytime heating, vorticity advection, and cold air advection in the mid-levels all act to increase lapse rates and shear, helping to deepen convection in this region. Showers will diminish on Saturday as a ridge builds in advance of the next low moving toward the region from the north Pacific. A warm front associated with this feature will bring rain to the AK-Pen by Saturday night. Rain continues for the AK-Pen and Bristol Bay through Sunday as the low tracks into the far eastern Bering. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days 1 through 3)... The broad upper-level low will will persist across the Bering through the first half of the weekend. Smaller shortwaves embedded within the larger synoptic feature will bring periods of showers and gusty winds to the southern Bering and Aleutian Chain as each pinwheels around the main area of cyclonic circulation. The first of these currently sits over the central Aleutians and will track east to eastern Aleutians through Saturday. A second trough associated with the low crossing Southwest Alaska Friday and Friday night will form into a small surface low near Nunivak Island on Saturday and rotate southwest towards the Pribilof Islands through Saturday night. Lastly, a north Pacific low will approach the eastern Alaska Peninsula from the south Saturday night. The shortwave associated with this feature will absorb the the former, allowing the broader trough axis to shift slightly east. This will also allow a ridge to build over the western Aleutians and Bering by the end of the weekend, keeping most of the active weather confined to the eastern half of the Bering. && .MARINE (Days 3 through 5: Sunday through Tuesday)... A North Pacific low lifts northward over the Alaska Peninsula and into the eastern Bering on Sunday. Small craft winds are expected in the southwestern Gulf of Alaska beginning Sat evening. Winds will diminish by Sun afternoon. There is high confidence a broad area of weak low pressure will remain over the Bering through Tue with no significant winds or waves expected. Meanwhile, a second, weaker North Pacific low approaches the Gulf Mon evening. At this time, no significant winds or waves are expected for the Gulf of Alaska Sun through Tue. && .LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7: Monday through Thursday)... The long term trend includes a broad upper level trough over the eastern Bering with a ridge over the Alaska-Yukon border. By Tuesday, the area of high pressure shifts over the northern half of the state, allowing the trough to extend all the way over the central Gulf. Models struggle to resolve how these two features will interact, however there is a growing consensus that a series of upper level shortwaves will rotate around the trough and lift over the southern Mainland through Thursday. && .AFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...H MARINE...Gale 119 120 130 131 132 138 139 150. FIRE WEATHER...NONE. && SYNOPSIS AND MODEL DISCUSSION...KH SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...PS SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS...TM MARINE/LONG TERM...KO
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
McHugh Creek RWIS site gusted to a max of 71 mph during this time.
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, May 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: 821197.