Strong southwest winds impacted the Aleutian Island chain for days. Strongest gust was noted over the Eastern Aleutians at 97 mph.
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.
Strong southwest winds impacted the Aleutian Island chain for days. Strongest gust was noted over the Eastern Aleutians at 97 mph.
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 Feb 26, 5:24 AM AKST, 2 hours earlier.
Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Anchorage AK 524 AM AKST Fri Feb 26 2021 .ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS... A broad jet-stream with winds from 100-140 kt extends from the central Aleutians through the Kuskokwim Mountains through Southcentral Alaska this morning. Below this neutrally tilted trough lies an adequate amount of moisture over eastern Bering which brings persistent mix of light rain and snow over much of Bristol Bay and parts of Kuskokwim Delta. Increased moisture from the North Pacific low and its associated frontal system directly points to the eastern Bering and toward the mainland. Around the Cook Inlet and Turnagain Arm, a deck of low-level clouds are moving north through Anchorage Bowl early this morning. Over the Aleutians and Bering Sea, warm temperatures near surface from mid-30s to lower-40 degrees Fahrenheit spreads across the Aleutians and Pribilof Islands. A large frontal system over the Bering will continue to bring steady rain over the Aleutians and portions of the Alaska Peninsula today. && .MODEL DISCUSSION... GFS and NAM share similar solutions especially for the placement of the complex North Pacific low over the Bering today. Once the low moves inland and across Southwest Alaska tonight through Saturday afternoon, both GFS and NAM will begin to diverge around Alaska Peninsula through the northern Gulf into the weekend. The next strong frontal system linked to a steepening Northwest Pacific low over the Bering is favorably tracked by the models. These large scale features will elevate winds, seas and weather over much of the region. The placement of the triple point is agreeable among the models, so is the boundary of warmer temperatures embedded with the warm fronts. && .AVIATION... PANC...Low clouds and light snow will pass through the upper Cook Inlet and Anchorage Bowl, which will keep flight conditions between IFR and MVFR levels today into tonight. Also, directional wind shear of 35 kt is expected between 1200-2000 ft by early this evening for several hours. As the low from Southwest Alaska moves close to Southcentral, the potential for southeast Turnagain winds bending into Airport is possible. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3/Today through Sunday night)... Expect active weather across the region the next couple days, with widespread snow this afternoon through Saturday night followed by a return to colder temperatures. First off, a weak warm sitting atop of a strong upper level ridge over the east Pacific will approach Southcentral today, with warmer air overrunning the Arctic air in place and leading to development of light snow. This will be aided by a weak upper level wave rounding the top of the ridge as well as a robust low level south to southwest flow. This flow will enhance snowfall in the northern to eastern Susitna Valley, though intensity will still generally remain light. Next up, a weak low crossing the central Aleutians this morning will track inland across Southwest Alaska tonight. This will push a much stronger warm front northward toward Southcentral and cause the low level winds (and upslope flow) to continue to strengthen. A high amplitude trough will also make eastward progress, with a strong jet streak and long fetch of tropical moisture streaming northward toward southern Alaska. As a result, snowfall will become widespread across Southcentral this evening and intensity will increase, particularly for south to west facing mountain slopes. The biggest beneficiary of the strong upslope flow will be the Susitna Valley, west side of the Talkeetna Mountains, and along the Alaska Range. Thus, have issued Winter Weather Advisories for the Susitna Valley and along the Alaska Range in the northern Copper River Basin zone. The rain/snow line will lift northward to around the southern Kenai Peninsula this afternoon and the rest of the north Gulf coast tonight. Expect all snow (or nearly all snow) as you head northward into Southcentral. The one complicating factor is the impact of gap winds. As the surface low tracks to Southwest Alaska, east-west pressure gradients will tighten over Southcentral, leading to localized gap winds. Specifically, expect winds to ramp up along Turnagain Arm and the upper hillside of Anchorage. This will bring some locally warmer air up Turnagain Arm, though the trajectory if this air is not very warm, so think precipitation will remain in the form of snow. Normally, would expect downslope drying with the low level southeast winds. However, in this case, the southeast winds will largely be relegated to the eastern Kenai Peninsula, while flow up the western Kenai will be out of the south to south-southwest. As a result, think the winds may cause localized downslope right on the western slopes of the Chugach while it continues to snow as you get farther west from the mountains. There is also the question of whether the Turnagain winds will bend into Anchorage, as some computer models indicate. The low over Southwest Alaska looks like it will stall over the Kuskokwim Valley, so pressure gradients for bringing in the wind are marginal. If winds do make it in, think they will be short-lived - though they could briefly warm surface temperatures above freezing. Any threat of winds and downsloping will come to an end by Saturday afternoon as the upper trough moves into the Gulf and leads to a transfer of energy from the Southwest Alaska low to a new surface low over the northwest Gulf. Strong cold air advection will then arrive from the west Saturday night. This will cause snow to longer along the western sides of the mountains. This will likely be the heaviest snow Anchorage sees out of this two day event, especially along and close to the mountains. Snow will gradually taper off from west to east Saturday night through Sunday. The cold air advection will lead to strong winds across the western Gulf and Kodiak Island beginning Saturday afternoon, followed by strong gap winds across Southcentral Saturday night into Sunday. Expect surface temperatures to fall Saturday night and continue falling during the day Sunday as a frigid airmass settles in across the entire region. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA (Days 1 through 3)... A weakening warm front continues to push farther inland trough the late morning hours across Southwest Alaska, which is keeping a rain/snow mix over interior Bristol Bay, with snow across the Kuskokwim Delta and Valley. A second round of moisture moves over the Southwest this afternoon associated with a North Pacific system lifting northward. This will again keep mostly rain or a rain/snow mix over the southern mainland, while areas farther north will remain as snowfall with a few inches of accumulations expected. As this system pushes farther east out of the region, conditions become quieter and drier throughout the day on Saturday as upper level ridging starts to build in. A blast of cold arctic air on Saturday bringing temperatures in the single digits stretched across the Southwest Mainland through the end of the weekend. The pattern quickly shifts on Sunday afternoon as a strong front across the eastern Bering pushes over the coastal locations throughout the day as the associated low approaches the Kuskokwim Delta. Widespread snowfall will accompany this system throughout the day on Sunday as the front spreads farther inland. Strong gusty winds along coastal areas could lead to blowing snow conditions. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days 1 through 3)... Unsettled weather persists across the Bering and Aleutians over the next few days. A North Pacific low over the central Aleutians will move into the eastern Bering this afternoon, bringing widespread rainfall and strong winds through the gaps along the eastern Aleutians and AKPEN. Over the western Bering, a low keeps gale force winds along the Aleutians as it progresses eastward through Saturday afternoon. A much strong storm approaches the western Aleutians and Bering Saturday afternoon, which will bring sustained storm force winds with hurricane force wind gusts. The strong winds persists through Sunday as the front moves eastward crossing over the Pribilofs and into the eastern Bering by Sunday afternoon. Expect widespread rain across much of the region with this system. A strong jet and cold air advection on the backside of the low will help to intensify the storm force winds across the western Aleutians on Sunday. However, there is the potential for sustained hurricane force winds. There is still some uncertainty in whether the strongest core of winds will move over Shemya or if they will keep a more southern track. && .MARINE (Days 3 through 5: Sunday through Tuesday)... Bering: A well developed low and front track across the Bering through Tue. Model confidence is good. Widespread high end gale force winds and waves with areas of storm force winds and possible hurricane force gusts with the wind wrapped low and front as it moves east, diminishing from the west Tue. Waves to 47 feet over the Western Aleutians subsiding Mon, and to 40 feet over the Bering for Mon, subsiding Tue. Gulf of Alaska: A moves along the North Gulf Coast, with its front over the Gulf through Tue. Model confidence is good. Widespread gale force winds and waves with areas of gusty outflow winds from Kachemak Bay and Barren Islands, Shelikof Strait and the Gulf side of the Alaska Peninsula through Mon. A second front moves into the Gulf with high end gale force winds through Tue. Waves to 22 feet through the forecast period. && .LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7: Monday through Thursday)... The long term starts off on Monday with a ridge over the Alcan border and a broad longwave trough from the Kamchatka Peninsula to the AKPEN. This pattern is expected to amplify drastically over the forecast period with a high amplitude ridge developing over the Bering and a trough deepening over the north Pacific. On Monday a strong, vertically stacked low is expected over the central Bering with its front rapidly pushing east into Southcentral. At this time models develop a triple point low near Kodiak Island Monday morning. This broad storm system is expected to bring widespread snow to most of the AOR, with cold temperatures aloft even supporting snow over the Aleutian Chain and Kodiak Island. By Tuesday night most of the mainland should begin to clear out with cold northerly winds developing over Southwest Alaska and onshore flow providing a chance for long duration snow over the AKPen. Meanwhile, a large frontal system is expected to make its way into the western Bering Wednesday morning and move slowly to the east through Thursday. && .AFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...Winter Weather Advisory 141 145. MARINE...Storm: 178. Gale: 130 132 138 150 155 160 172-177 185. Heavy Freezing Spray: 180 185. && SYNOPSIS AND MODEL DISCUSSION...CMB SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...SEB SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS...AH MARINE/LONG TERM...KZ/CJ
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Eareckson ASOS noted a 76 mph southwest wind gust at 11:55 AM the 28th.
Southwest gusts to 82 mph were noted at several AWOS and buoy sites.
The NKLA2 observation may not be representative of the actual weather across the rest of the forecast area since this ob is higher in elevation than the surrounding obs.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 2021
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: 972061, 972060, 972059.