High Wind in Sern P.w. Snd, Alaska

The very tight pressure gradient along the North Gulf Coast produced high winds through the Copper River Delta. There are no observing stations in the Delta and both the State Troopers and DOT did not go into the warning area but did report lots of blowing dust. Reasonable estimates of the timing and extent of the winds can be ascertained from the observations from Valdez where winds gusted to 74 mph in town and 94 mph at the airport. Therefore an estimate of 85 mph was used for this warning, and three hours were added to the end time from the ending in Valdez since the Copper River Delta winds last longer than in Valdez in this pattern.

A large area of high pressure centered near the Arctic Coast combined with a low in the Gulf of Alaska produced a strong pressure gradient over Southern Alaska on March 12. This strong pressure gradient produced warning level winds in the Matanuska Valley and in various places along the north coast of the Gulf of Alaska.