High Wind in Pribilof Islands, Alaska

Two separate measurements of wind gusts to 81 mph were recorded from Saint George and Saint Paul Island on the morning of 9/17. The gust to 81 mph on Saint Paul was recorded by the PASN AWOS at 8:45 AM AKST, and the gust to 81 mph on Saint George was recorded at 9:41 AKST. School was cancelled on the island of Saint Paul due to the high winds on 9/17.

A strong low developed over the southern Bering Sea late on September 16th and intensified to storm force with hurricane force gusts as the moved north of the Pribilof Islands on the morning of September 17th. Numerical model guidance was slow to catch on to the rapid intensification of this system, and both sustained winds and gusts around the low peaked higher than most model projections leading up to the event. Gusts peaked at or above hurricane force across the Pribilof Islands as the low passed to the north early on the 17th, as well as over parts of the far eastern Aleutians and southern Alaska Peninsula as the low center turned to the east towards Bristol Bay later on the same day.