178 mph Gusts Batter Aleutian Coast Guard Outpost

[ChessieStorm]

178 m.p.h. Gusts Batter Aleutian Coast Guard Outpost
December 3, 2009
By James Halpin, Anchorage Daily News


The storm mucking up Southcentral Alaska this week battered a far-flung U.S. Coast Guard outpost in the Aleutians over the weekend with hurricane-force winds, according to the National Weather Service.

Out in Attu, the crew of the Coast Guard`s Long-Range Navigation Station reported sustained winds of 125 mph with gusts hitting 178 mph over the weekend. The station also got more than a foot and a half of snow.

The gusts, equivalent to the winds of a Category 5 hurricane, damaged a communications antenna, which broke free from three securing mounts, the Coast Guard said.

The station`s crew has been making repairs and has spent more than 100 hours on snow removal.

There are 20 active-duty personnel based at the station on year-long assignments.

The storm made its way across the Bering Sea, hitting up the Aleutians and Southwest Alaska before passing through the region and heading for Southcentral.

"It was just a really deep low-pressure system," said weather service forecaster Shaun Baines. "This one just kept moving right along."

Copyright (c) 2009, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska, Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

[Windwatcher]

I cannot even imagine what the wind chill must have been. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!