High Wind in Cook Inlet, Alaska

A moderate to strong front, travelling eastward through the Aleutians, was preceded by brisk southeast winds in many areas of the Chain and the Alaska Peninsula. Wind gusts reached 59 mph at Dutch Harbor Thursday morning and 75 mph at Cold Bay midday Thursday, several hours prior to frontal passage. Several ship reports along the Alaska Peninsula recorded wind gusts approaching 70 mph in advance of the front. Brisk easterly wind gusts as high as 62 mph were also reported around Iliamna.The Anchorage hillside also had an isolated report of winds between 60 and 70 mph between Thursday evening and Friday evening. Strongest wind, as of 5pm Friday, came from Bear Valley, at around the 1700 ft level, where east wind gusts of 68 mph were recorded late Friday afternoon. From Friday morning through Saturday morning, brisk northeast wind gusts reached 66 mph at the newly installed Saint Augustine wind sensor in lower Cook Inlet. On Friday, as the front approached the southern entrance to Prince William Sound, wind gusts reached 70 mph at Middleton Island during the late afternoon and evening. Frontal passage late Saturday morning marked an end to the strong winds.