High Wind in Northern Lynn Canal, Alaska

Severe weather impacted the citizens of Southeast Alaska the second week of March 2003. At first there was an arctic outbreak on March 7-8, that spread the coldest air of the winter season across the entire Panhandle. With this cold air in place, a 959mb Low moved into the North Pacific on Wednesday, March 12. With a 1022mb High centered northwest Canada, a 60+ mb offshore/northeast pressure gradient was centered directly over Southeast Alaska. This helped generate High Winds in the gap flow out of our eastern passes and inlets. Due to a critical layer in mid levels of the atmosphere, a renowned mountain wave High Wind event, the Taku Winds, developed in downtown Juneau and Douglas. These high winds developed by late afternoon on March 12 and continued into the next morning. At the Juneau Federal Building wind gusts maxed out at 55 knots (63 mph), but less than a mile away on South Douglas Island winds measured as high as 62 knots (71 mph). On our mountain tops, the Mount Roberts Tram (1761' ASL) sensor measured a peak gust of 127 kts (146 mph). Some minor damage was reported in both Juneau and Douglas. In the northern Lynn Canal region the winds were more northerly due to the terrain, but just as strong. The Eldred Rock sensor measured a peak wind gust to 59 kts (68 mph) during this time.