High Wind in Delta Junction, Alaska

Strong east winds developed during the morning hours of January 15th at Allen Army Airfield. As the day wore on Wind gusts of 40 to 45 mph were common. By mid afternoon a peak wind gust of 73 mph was observed by the Big Delta ASOS (PABI). The winds finally subsided just prior to midnight.

Following a period of dry, Arctic conditions across Central Alaska, a potent weather shift occurred on Thursday, January 15. A strong low-pressure system entering the North Pacific coupled with high pressure over Western Canada to funnel a stream of warm, moist air into the region. As the associated warm front tracked north over the Alaska Range, it produced heavy snowfall and high winds, resulting in widespread blizzard conditions. Simultaneously, strong winds to the west triggered blizzards along the West Coast. In the wake of the front, colder air returned alongside a series of upper-level disturbances. By Friday and Saturday (January 16'17), these systems produced additional heavy snowfall across the Interior.