High Wind — Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

2025-11-19 · Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

Event narrative

The Hydaburg AWOS measured wind gusts trending up through the day on the 19th, peaking at 56mph at 519pm AKST. The AWOS station stopped reporting after 552pm, likely due to a power outage. The Klawock COOP observer noted damaging wind had occurred on both the 19th and 20th in their 9am report. On the other side of the island, the FAA webcam near Kasaan measured sustained winds in excess of 40mph between 220-420pm on the 19th, including a peak sustained wind speed of 47mph.

Wider weather episode

On Tuesday night November 18th, a strong low moved along the Panhandle coast carrying plentiful moisture with it. This brought snow to the upper portions of the Haines and Klondike Highways on the 19th and into the 20th while temperatures hovered around the freezing point. Meanwhile, portions of Prince of Wales Island saw a period of high winds on the 19th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1302235. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.