By Tim MowryTMOWRY@NEWSMINER.COM

A violent storm packing wind gusts up to 55 mph ripped through Fairbanks overnight Wednesday, bringing down dozens of trees and power lines while leaving thousands

of residents in Alaska’s sec-ond-largest city without power as electrical crews scrambled to repair damage caused by the gusts on Thursday.

As of 9:40 p.m. Thursday, Golden Valley Electric Associ-ation estimated there still were 3,000 to 5,000 homes in the Fairbanks area that were with-out power. But the number could be higher, GVEA spokes-woman Cassandra Cerny said. Residents in some outlying areas could be without power

for several days, she said.“It could be into the week-

end,” she said. “People in out-lying areas who have multiple trees down in their neigh-borhood can expect longer outages.”

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T H E V O I C E O F I N T E R I O R A L A S K A S I N C E 1 9 0 3

SOURDOUGH JACK:

“Storm knocked a tree down in my driveway. Oh well, didn’t want to go to the dentist nohow.”

The weather.Today will be mostly cloudy.

High today .............. 13Low tonight ............ -4

WEATHER » A7

GOODMORNING

Classified » C1 | Comics » C6 | Dear Abby » Latitude 65 | Outdoors » B1 | Markets » B2 | Obituaries » A7 | Opinion » A6 | Weather » A7INSIDE

• • •

Parnell, Health and Social Services official to discuss possible Medicaid expansion. » A3Inside Today

Aurora forecast.Auroral activity will be moderate.

This information is provided by aurora forecasters at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Thousands without power

A spruce tree lies on top of a house near the corner of Third Avenue and Dunkel Street on Thursday in the aftermath of the wind storm. ERIC ENGMAN/NEWS-MINER

A Piper super cub sits damaged from the wind Thursday morning at Fairbanks International Airport. MARK ANDERSON/NEWS-MINER

Sturgeon Electric lineman Troy Birdsall cuts a downed spruce tree from power lines along E Street on Thursday in the aftermath of the wind storm that ravaged Fairbanks. “I’ve been out since 1 a.m.,” said Birdsall, who was working on contract for GVEA. ERIC ENGMAN/

NEWS-MINER

ONLINE: FOR CONTINUING COVERAGE OF THE AFTERMATH OF THIS WEEK’S STORM, VISIT WWW.NEWSMINER.COM.

SEE MORE » For video of the wind storm, visit www.news miner.com.

Temperamental weather brings unusually high temps, strong windsBy Weston MorrowWMORROW@NEWSMINER.COM

After only a short break from a weekend snow barrage, a large weather system blew into Fairbanks on Wednesday, bringing erratic con-ditions along with it.

Wednesday’s storm generated strong sustained winds of as much as 27 miles per hour in town, with gusts as high as 55 mph. The high winds wreaked havoc on Fairbanks’ infrastructure, downing trees and power lines, causing outages for more than 10,000 residents from Salcha to Nenana.

The strong winds, though rare for Fairbanks, were not as surprising as the unusually high temperatures, said meteorologist Jim Brader at the National Weather Service. Tempera-tures at Fairbanks International Air-port reached 44 degrees, one degree short of the all-time record of 45 set in 1976.

The temperature at the airport rose 20 degrees in an hour and a half Wednesday evening, a rare phenom-enon for Fairbanks, Brader said.

“Certainly, a jump of 20 degrees in an hour and a half is pretty unusu-al for Fairbanks,” Brader said. “We can get stuff like this with a chinook wind, but the unusual thing is, this was not a chinook wind.”

A chinook wind takes place when wind blows perpendicularly over a mountain range, bringing a rapid temperature shift. Such winds aren’t uncommon in towns such as Delta Junction that are closer to the Alas-ka Range, but are rare in Fairbanks.

The system that blew into Fair-banks on Wednesday and Thursday was part of a larger system brew-ing over the Bering Sea early in the week. The storm formed over Kam-chatka, Russia, and made its way across the Bering Strait and then through mainland Alaska. Brader said Kaktovik, on the Arctic Ocean, was experiencing 70 mph sustained winds and blizzard conditions Thursday afternoon.

Storm wreaks havoc on city

STORM » A8

THE STORM AT A GLANCE• Sustained winds of 27 mph• Gusts to 55 mph• More than 10,000 Golden Valley Electric Association customers without power at peak of storm• 3,000 to 5,000 still without power Thursday night. Some may not get power until weekend.• Schools closed Wednesday through today.• Warming shelters set up at West Valley and North Pole high schools.• Widespread toppling of trees. Some damage to buildings.

HOW DID YOU PASS THE TIME?

By Kris CappsKCAPPS@NEWSMINER.COM

Power outages always seem to bring people together in outlying areas.

In the Anderson/Clear area, power went out at midnight Wednesday and had not returned by mid-afternoon Thursday. So Anderson School hooked up to a generator and opened its doors to the community as a safe shelter even while school was in session as usual.

Schools in the Denali Borough School District never close for inclement weather.

“We had coffee on all day,” said Kay Hockin, longtime Anderson resident and school supporter.

Local residents made use of the warm building all day, Hockin said.

The long power outage surprised longtime residents like Hockin.

“It’s been years and years since I’ve seen this happen,” she said.

Earlier Thursday morning, neigh-bors in the Clear area all gravitated to the Clear Sky Lodge after a night without power. Surely someone there would have found a way to heat water and make coffee.

Indeed, one of the local residents brought a portable wood-fueled water heater, resident Mary Beth Michaels said.

We turned to our Facebook site on Thursday to ask readers how they were coping with the severe weather and power outages. It seems that baking and eating were among the favored activities, along with movie-watch-ing. Also popular but perhaps not as favored: shoveling snow.

Here are some reader comments:Rory Newman: I’m doing laundry

and bringing LOTS of firewood in!!

Lisa Reasner: Still headed to work

Amanda Todd Sexton: Cleaning, laundry and shoveling. Loads of fun.

Judith Ann Good Harrison: Out in it picking up downed spruce limbs.

Vanessa Horace: Watching movies, baking.

Flo-Jo Grant: Have family over for breakfast from Farmers Loop.

Lee Anne Gillam: Just working as usual!

Elizabeth Rocheleau: Cleaning, shoveling off trampoline, dropping pumpkins off for the moose, and getting

COMMENTS » A7

UNUSUAL » A8

Denali communities hit with power outages

DENALI » A8