Another large wind storm is moving toward Anchorage and surrounding areas. The storm is across the southern Bering Sea but is expected to hit Southcentral Alaska and particularly Anchorage late Saturday night. National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Hopkins says the storm will mainly hit three areas of the city, starting with the Upper Hillside.
“We’re looking at gusts up to a hundred miles an hour along the upper hillside beginning sometime around midnight on Saturday night and those strongest winds should continue for about 12 hours up there. And then after the front passes around noon time or one oclock on Sunday afternoon, those winds should drop down to gusts in the 80 mile an hour range and those should persist for another 8 or 10 hours and begin to diminish sometime on Sunday night,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins says strong winds will affect the Lower Hillside and East Anchorage. Gusts could reach 70 miles an hour or higher, those winds could begin Sunday morning and persist until early afternoon, with 45 mile an hour gusts forecast out till midnight Sunday. The third area to be hit will be west Anchorage and downtown.
“By noon time we expect them to be fairly strong, maybe gusting to 50 maybe 60 miles per hour, which is pretty good for west Anchorage. And that should be noon time on Sunday to about midnight on Sunday,” Hopkins said.
Strong winds may hit the Mat Su valley, possibly up to 70 miles an hour, and there may be strong winds on the Kenai, but the strongest winds are predicted for Anchorage. There is also heavy precipitation anticipated for the eastern Kenai peninsula, north gulf coast, Valdez, Cordova and Whittier. Scott Lindsey is a hydrologist with the National Weather Service river forecast office.
“The amounts that we’re seeing right now from Saturday to Sunday night, a 24 hour period are wide spread 4 to 7 inches and bulls eyes of 9 plus inches,” Lindsey said.
There is also concern for urban streams in Seward, Valdez and Cordova reaching bank levels or possibly over stream banks.
WEATHER
POWER
- Municipal Light & Power Facebook
- ML&P phone 279-7671 or 1-888-999-5340
- ML&P website
- Chugach Electric Facebook
- Chugach phone 762-7888 or toll-free at 1-800-478-7494
- Chugach website
- Matanuska Electric Association Facebook
- MEA phone in Mat-Su Valley: 746-7697
- MEA phone in in Eagle River: 696-7697
- MEA website
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
- Red Cross: Emergency kit
- MOA: Emergency Management
- Alaska Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management
- DHHS: Food Safety During a Power Outage (PDF)
- OEM: More Wind on the Way Helpful information and how you can prepare (PDF) Sept. 12, 2012
- ML&P: Customers Urged to Prepare for Possible Outages (PDF) Sept. 13, 2012
- MOA: Wood Lot Season Further Extended (PDF) Sept. 13, 2012
- MOA: Wood Lot Summary Grid (PDF) Sept. 13, 2012
EVENTS & TRAVEL
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR PART OF TOWN? CONTACT US
- news@alaskapublicorg
- alaskapublic on facebook
- 907-550-8444
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Lori Townsend is the chief editor, senior vice president of journalism and senior host for Alaska Public Media. You can send her news tips and program ideas for Talk of Alaska and Alaska Insight at ltownsend@alaskapublic.org or call 907-550-8452. Read more about Lori here.
