Weather Service cancels Ketchikan wind advisory early after gusts fall short of forecast

Sunday's wind in Ketchikan didn't live up to the forecast, and the National Weather Service called off its wind advisory for the area about three hours early.

The advisory for the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and Annette Island took effect at 11 am Sunday, with forecasters calling for gusts up to 45 mph. The Weather Service office in Juneau raised that to 50 mph in its last update, at 6:43 pm, with south winds of 15 to 25 mph.

At Ketchikan International Airport, the winds blew steadily from the southeast through the afternoon and evening, at around 15 to 20 mph with gusts mostly near 30 mph. The strongest gust came at 9:27 pm, at about 36 mph. Fourteen minutes later, at 9:41 pm, the Weather Service canceled the advisory, which had been set to run until 1 am Monday. The airport is a single weather station, and conditions can vary around the borough and on Annette Island.

Forecasters had warned that the wind could blow around loose objects, bring down tree limbs, cause a few power outages and make travel difficult.

On the water, a small craft advisory covered Clarence Strait through late Sunday night, with forecasts of south winds of 30 knots, gusts to 35 knots and seas of 10 feet.