High wind warning ends for Atka and Adak after two days of strong Bering Sea winds

A high wind warning for Atka and Adak expired at 9 pm Friday Anchorage time, 8 pm on the islands, which sit an hour behind. The National Weather Service's final bulletin, issued that afternoon, still forecast gusts of 60 to 70 mph Friday night into Saturday morning, with winds easing by late Saturday morning. No new warning replaced it.

The warning took effect Thursday. Forecasters blamed a deep low-pressure system in the southern Bering Sea. Thursday's bulletins called for west winds of 45 to 65 mph with gusts to 80 mph, strongest from about 11 am to 2 pm island time. An early Friday update lowered that to gusts of 75 mph, predicted a lull Thursday night and moved the warning's end up from 7 am Saturday to 9 pm Friday.

The strongest gust recorded at the Adak airport weather station was about 61 mph, just before 1 pm island time Thursday, according to weather service observations. Atka's airport station peaked at about 49 mph late Friday night.

Each bulletin warned that the wind could damage property, move loose debris, knock out power and make travel difficult. The weather service urged residents to secure loose objects, prepare for widespread power outages and use caution if they had to drive.

Strong wind is nothing new in the western Aleutians. The City of Adak's website puts the average wind speed at about 17 mph, with gusts over 100 knots, about 115 mph, during winter storms, and says summer gusts over 50 knots, about 58 mph, are not uncommon.