Gusts up to 75 mph possible from Akutan to King Cove starting Thursday night

Gusts up to 75 mph could hit the Aleutians East Borough starting Thursday night, after the National Weather Service upgraded a high wind watch there to a warning early Thursday.

The warning runs from 10 pm Thursday to 10 pm Friday, with southeast winds of 35 to 50 mph. The strongest gusts are expected from Akutan to King Cove. Forecasters said the wind could move loose debris, damage property and cause power outages, and told residents to secure loose objects and prepare for possible widespread outages.

When the weather service first issued the watch Tuesday, forecasters said a storm-force Bering front would bring strong southeast winds to Cold Bay and King Cove, and that a gap running southeast to northwest could strengthen them. They put the chance of gusts reaching 75 mph or more at 40 to 60 percent. The warning moved the start up from Friday morning to Thursday night.

Farther west, a wind advisory covers Unalaska and Nikolski from 10 pm Thursday to 4 pm Friday, with south winds of 25 to 40 mph and gusts up to 55 mph, enough to blow around unsecured objects and possibly cause a few power outages.

The same front is forecast to reach the Kuskokwim Delta and Bristol Bay coast Friday morning. A high wind warning there runs from 7 am Friday to 4 am Saturday, with gusts up to 75 mph. The strongest winds are expected near Cape Newenham and Togiak, and Dillingham could see gusts up to 50 mph.

On the Kuskokwim Delta coast, a coastal flood advisory covers Kipnuk, Kwigillingok and Kongiganak, where water is most likely to run 2 to 3 feet above the normal high tide line around Friday's high tides. Farther north, forecasters expect water up to 7.5 feet above high tide at Hooper Bay, Alaska News reported Wednesday.