This story has been updated.
A storm moving through Southeast Alaska is causing high winds that will continue into Wednesday evening in Juneau. It’s resulting in power outages and fallen trees. Multiple cruise ships have canceled port calls.
The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning early Wednesday morning, which is in effect until 7 p.m. Brian Bezenek, the lead meteorologist at the Juneau NWS office, said sensors have reported gusts reaching up to 60 miles per hour downtown.
“We’ve got some very gusty and strong winds moving through the area that have been knocking down a few trees here and there, as well as some other minor damage around town,” he said.
Three cruise ships that were scheduled to arrive in Juneau canceled their stops ahead of the storm Tuesday night. One ship, the Caribbean Princess, chose to stay in Juneau overnight and remains in port this afternoon. The Viking Orion cruise ship was scheduled to arrive in Sitka today, but instead diverted course to Juneau due to the winds.
Matt Creswell, the city’s harbormaster, said local tugboats helped the ship moor this afternoon.
“All cruise ships visiting Juneau are able to have tugs on standby at any time they want,” he said. “That’s a common thing that if you need a tug, it’s always manned and ready to go if the ships need it.”
Alaska Electric Light & Power reported an areawide outage due to downed trees across town. The City of Hoonah also reported outages.
Bezenek said the heavy winds are expected to head north and through Juneau later this evening.
“It’s drifting north, and it should be jumping inland across the mountain range through today,” he said. “We’ll probably have the gusty winds in the Juneau area continue for another couple hours, and then we’ll see this wind band probably pushed north through the Lynn canal area.”
The Juneau School District reported at noon that all schools have been impacted by the power outage, but classes are continuing as regularly scheduled.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
