High winds Monday night led to widespread power outages in the Fairbanks area, although the impact was not as severe as the outages from roughly two weeks ago. As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 800 were still without power.
The National Weather Service issued a high wind advisory for the Fairbanks area starting Monday night and going through midnight Tuesday. The region was hit by southwesterly winds from 15 to 25 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 40 miles per hour.
The high winds created power outages, which are commonly caused by trees on lines, downed power lines and damages to poles and lines, according to a statement from Golden Valley Electric Association.
The outages were widespread throughout the Fairbanks area. At one point Monday night, over 8,000 people were without power due to 127 outages, according to GVEA.
As of noon Tuesday, there were 85 outages impacting 773 people, according to GVEA. Linemen had restored power to 47 customers. The majority of the outages were small, impacting from one to nine customers.
On Tuesday, 11 crews of more than 30 linemen were continuing to work to restore power to customers without electricity.
While impactful, the event was not nearly as significant as the windstorm in late July, during which gusts of up to 75 miles per hour left roughly 23,000 people without power.
Front brings cool temperatures, frost warning, snow to higher elevations
The strong winds were related to a cold front that moved into the Fairbanks area Monday night. As the front approached Fairbanks, the winds grew stronger as cold air mixed with warmer air surrounding the city, according to the National Weather Service. The temperature difference created further atmospheric instability and thus the stronger winds.
The maximum wind gust at the Fairbanks International Airport was recorded at 43 miles per hour and the temperature at the Fairbanks Airport dropped 9 degrees in just 40 minutes.
That National Weather Service’s Fairbanks station also issued an advisory Tuesday for what could be the first frost of the season. Frost is expected in low-lying areas outside of the city. Areas most likely to see frost Wednesday morning include Goldstream Valley, Fox and lower-lying areas east of Nordale Road. The weather service also advised protecting cold-sensitive outside plants.
Due to the cold front, higher elevations of Denali National Park and areas such as Atigun Pass saw their first snowfalls of the season.
Contact reporter Maisie Thomas at 907-459-7544 or mthomas@newsminer.com.
