High wind warnings go into effect Tuesday night throughout the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage.
The National Weather Service predicts hurricane-force winds throughout the Kenai to Anchorage, with strongest winds heightening late Tuesday through Wednesday morning.
A High Wind Warning goes into effect starting 9 p.m. Tuesday until 1 p.m. Wednesday for East Anchorage, the Lower Hillside and Eagle River.
The high wind warning for Turnagain Arm and higher Hillside elevations starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday and continues through Wednesday afternoon.
“We have not seen any major changes in the storm,” NWS meteorologist Jason Ahsenmacher said. “It does look like it is coming in slightly faster, which may change the end time tomorrow.”
“The low is developing as expected and it is pretty much a game of wait and see now. ”
The strongest winds are predicted for Turnagain Arm and Anchorage’s Hillside.
Gusts of 75mph up to 90mph are predicted for much of the area, including Eagle River, East Anchorage and the Anchorage Bowl. Gusts of 100 miles an hour are possible in Turnagain Arm.
“These types of wind events are tricky, because there are different phases to the actual event,” Ahsenmacher said. “So right now, we’re seeing already are seeing gusts, we actually got a gust of 70 mph on the Hillside, upper Hillside, De Armoun Road area. Whereas in town, we are getting gusts into the 20 to 25 mile an hour range. In mountain ranges, like Eagle River, we are seeing gusts of 40 mph. So it depends on where you are at.”
Ahsenmacher says the strongest winds will come as the front moves to the north Wednesday morning.
NWS has extended the high wind warning to Tatitlek through Cordova, as the storm progresses toward Prince William Sound.
The storm coming in from the Bering Sea is expected to affect aviation and marine activities, and a storm warning is in effect for lower Cook Inlet and the entire Gulf of Alaska.
Heavy rains are coming along with the high winds, starting Tuesday.
Flood watches have been issued for Seward and Eastern Kenai Peninsula starting Tuesday and extending through Wednesday.
Weather forecasters are predicting 5 to 7 inches of rain in the Seward area.
The flood watch includes the cities of Whittier, Girdwood and Moose Pass, and continues through Thursday morning.
APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
