Please keep Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska in your thoughts over the next couple of days.

[Blue_In_AK]

For the second time in two weeks we are facing hurricane force winds. The last storm, September 4-5, did millions of dollars worth of damage and left some homes without power for five days. The one forecast for this weekend will be the same, but with rain.

http://www.adn.com/2012/09/14/2625023/weekend-winds-up-to-110-mph-possible.html

The National Weather Service says wind gusts as high as 110 miles per hour could hit the higher elevations in Anchorage this weekend and has added flood warnings for communities on Turnagain Arm and Prince William Sound.

<snip>

Winds are predicted to increase throughout Saturday, reaching between 35 and 50 miles per hour for most of Anchorage by Saturday night, with possible gusts of 65 miles per hour.

Gusts in Upper Hillside and along Turnagain Arm from Potter Marsh to Bird Creek may reach 110 miles per hour and 85 miles per hour in Girdwood and Portage.

Conditions will persist through Sunday, with southeast winds from 65 to 80 miles an hour on the Hillside and gusts continuing to clock 110 miles per hour. Hillside winds will decrease to between 45 and 60 miles an hour, forecasters say, but not until after midnight.

<snip>

In addition, some communities may get up to 9 inches of rain with the possibility of flooding. These kinds of storms this early in the season are very unusual. We often get winds in the winter, but after the trees have dropped their leaves, are frozen in and are more stable. Hundreds of trees have been downed already.

Anyway, the Lower 48 doesn't usually hear about our weather, but we could use your positive vibes.

[cali]

1. Hope the damage is minimal from this new storm

and that people recover quickly from the last.

[Downwinder]

2. How much of this is due to climate change?

They call 60 degrees south the Screaming Sixties.

[roguevalley]

17. all of it :(

[Blue_In_AK]

19. I think it's all due to climate change.

There was a national article in this morning's paper re the shrinking arctic ice pack and it's effect on the jet stream and so on. It explains colder winters in Europe and snowier ones in Alaska. Last winter we had more snow here in Anchorage than ever ... 11 feet which is almost twice as much as our normal. There was also an unusual early season "hurricane" in NW Alaska last November.

This winter should be "interesting" to say the least.

[Iris]

3. Stay safe, friend

N/t

[Solly Mack]

4. Stay safe, Blue!

Wishing you all well.

[malaise]

5. Please stay safe

I read something about bad weather in Alaska yesterday.

[joeybee12]

6. Good luck...I have to ask...are these winds fairly common?

[roguevalley]

16. in winter

[Blue_In_AK]

20. Hardly ever this early in the season.

[DinahMoeHum]

7. Are these winds the "Williwaws" I keep reading about re Alaska?

n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

21. Williwaws are winds that blow down over mountains to the sea.

Last edited Sat Sep 15, 2012, 03:26 PM - Edit history (2)

What we usually get here are called "chinooks," warm winds from the southeast that occur in winter. Sometimes it will be well below zero and within a matter of hours warm up to mid or high 40s. Winds in the winter aren't as dangerous because the ground is frozen, there are no leaves to catch the wind and the snow is deep. Now the ground is soggy, and since our trees have shallow roots because of the permafrost, they topple right over with these kinds of storms.

This little article explains our three main kinds of wind here.

http://books.google.com/books?id=g_0sbbGO69gC&pg=PA225&lpg=PA225&dq=williwaw+chinook&source=bl&ots=1cJYFpSSia&sig=lNeee9ONloPTO9CfcRwfmxG5DHs&hl=en#v=onepage&q=williwaw%20chinook&f=false

[DinahMoeHum]

32. Great almanac, thanks.

n/t

[nanabugg]

8. Prayers and peace vibes sending your way nt

[Honeycombe8]

9. You got it. I didn't know there were hurricanes up there. nt

[blueknight]

10. wow!

thats terrible! everyone please be safe

[barbtries]

11. stay safe!

what do they call a storm with hurricane force winds when it happens in AK? is it a typhoon?

[roguevalley]

15. yes

[onethatcares]

12. wow, that's some amazing windspeeds

strap in, hold on and good luck.


what's happening further up the road in Eagle River?

[Blue_In_AK]

22. They got hit pretty hard last time.

They're probably battening down the hatches as we speak. It's the calm before the storm right now.

[A-Long-Little-Doggie]

30. My kid lives in Eagle River

when he is not in the sandbox, like he is now. I went out to see him last November before he was deployed and I couldn't believe how much snow was already on the ground.

Good luck to all of you up there in AK.

[Blue_In_AK]

31. Oh, yeah, our snow last year was epic.

What was really unusual (besides the sheer amount of the stuff) was that there were only three individual storms that produced more than 7 inches at a time. Instead, it just snowed ALL THE TIME, it seemed like every day. It usually doesn't happen that way here.

Thank your son for his service. I hope he returns back to Eagle River safe and sound.

[blaze]

13. Holy cow!! I had no idea!

Stay safe!

[roguevalley]

14. blue. take care. anch got reslly pounded last time :(

[Blue_In_AK]

23. Did you get much wind down there?

[roguevalley]

33. we did but not as much as you. The trees were

really scary looking but they stayed up. I had one cut down that was dead that would have probably gone through my window. Take care, honey.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Is it me, or are these storms happening more often?

Seriously, I am curious

[Blue_In_AK]

24. These kinds of storms are pretty much unprecedented this early in the season.

And, as I mentioned above, we had record snowfall last winter and an unusually cool summer.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Thanks, good to know it was not my imagination

IT is a pattern of climate change we are seeing

[oldhippydude]

26. good luck

was going to make some wise crack about Palin... but realize that wouldn't help... just good luck instead

[Blue_In_AK]

27. Yeah, you know, we don't even think about her anymore

Is she even still in Alaska?

[grasswire]

28. derecho?

Or rotational?

[Blue_In_AK]

29. I'm assuming rotational like the last one,

and judging from the direction. The marine forecast is predicting 975 mb.



Ed. Thanks for teaching me a new word.

Here's a nice map.



Luckily we live in west Anchorage at the mouth of Knik Arm where our gusts will "only" be 60 mph. Totally and ominously still here right at the moment.