High Wind — Denali, Alaska

2009-12-21 · Denali, Alaska

Wider weather episode

The combination of a deep upper low in the Bering Sea and a large upper ridge across eastern Alaska brought a period of strong Chinook flow across the Alaska Range. The wind at one of the Healy CWOP sites gusted to 50 kt/58 mph, and there was an unconfirmed report of wind gusts as high as 74 kt/85 mph in the Healy area. The report of 85 mph winds seemed reasonable given the meteorological conditions. There was a peak wind gust of 63 kt/72 mph at the Antler Creek DOT site at Mile post 244 along the Parks Highway.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 200150. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.