High Wind — City and Borough of Sitka, Alaska

2025-09-26 · City and Borough of Sitka, Alaska

Event narrative

A social media post from around 2pm AKDT reported damage to a board walk at Warm Springs Bay on the eastern side of Baranof Island. The Sitka Airport ASOS measured a gust of 54kt (62mph) at 347pm AKDT and a peak gust of 58kt (67mph) at 356pm AKDT. The COOP station at Little Port Walter checked the damaging wind box for this event.

Wider weather episode

An unusually strong fall storm developed and moved northeast into the Gulf of Alaska during the early morning hours of Friday 9/26, with pressure falling to 962mph and with hurricane force winds observed on the south side of the low center. As the system progressed northeastward, winds along the coast from Prince of Wales northward towards Baranof Island increased with damaging winds reported. The system made landfall over the central panhandle Friday afternoon around 4pm, just north of Sitka, near Kruzof Island. Tree fall and damaging winds were also reported in the Petersburg Borough and on Admiralty Island that afternoon.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1295951. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.