Near-record high winds on Kodiak Island grounded flights to and from Kodiak for most of the day Wednesday as the island was under a high wind warning from 4 a.m. to 1 p.m. The peak wind speed recorded at the Kodiak airport was 75 mph around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Climatologist Rick Thoman, with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, said via email that this is the second strongest wind peak recorded in Kodiak in the month of October since at least 2000. The highest was recorded last October at 78 miles per hour.
Thoman also said that another wind speed sensor on the local Matson crane reported a gust of 83 mph just after 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Kodiak Electric Association recorded a wind speed of 122 mph on top of Pillar Mountain yesterday from the sensor on the cooperative’s wind turbines according to an email from President and CEO Dan Menth.
The City of Kodiak’s emergency responders did not report any significant damage or incidents as a result of the high wind.
The Gulf of Alaska weather front that brought these unusually strong October winds has since subsided, although rain is still in the forecast for Kodiak Island through this weekend.
