The Definition of Williwaw

Last weekend, we ventured down to one of our favorite campgrounds, Williwaw for Labor Day Weekend.  The campground is in Portage Valley, south of Girdwood and Anchorage, or as I like to call it "Monsoon Valley".  You see the definition of a " williwaw" is "a sudden violent squall blowing offshore from a mountainous coast".  And that is just what it did all weekend - lots of rain and wind!  We spent much of the weekend "camper hopping", playing games, eating junk food and hanging out.

Eight adults (and two dogs) crammed into one camper for dinner

We were able to get out Saturday for a walk to the Begich-Boggs Visitors Center in Portage, and then for a drive to Whittier.  

A view of a glacier on the walk to Portage

Portage Glacier and Lake

Fireweed, turned red, on the walk back to the campground - fall is coming!

Whittier harbor

Beautiful glacier view from a mountain road in Whittier

[Photo by Andrew G.]

Sunday, the last night there the wind picked up something fierce, as did the rain.  It looked like sheets and waves of water coming off the mountains in the valley!

When we returned to the Anchorage-area Monday, the weather was fairly nice.  Then we woke up Tuesday and the sky was red... not a good sign.  Tuesday afternoon and evening the wind started to pick up again.  Around 10:30 p.m., our power went out, and the wind kept increasing.  At some time that night, Andrew took down the flagpoles (and we actually left everything else outside up) and heard from a friend that the power was out from Anchorage to the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and parts of the Glenn Highway were impassable due to fallen trees.  After a sleepless night, we woke up around 5 a.m. to check the damage.  The power was still out, so we hooked up our travel trailer generator to save the food in the fridge.  We had no damage!  All my outdoor decor, deck furniture, and the grill were fine!  We had some branches in our yard and part of our downspout from our gutter detached, but that was the extent of our "damage" - pretty impressive considering our property is surrounded by tall birch and cottonwood trees!  Work was cancelled, and when it got lighter we discovered that our neighbor's lot had multiple fallen trees, and thankfully they missed his house.  

Many other folks around the rest of Southcentral Alaska were not so fortunate.  We were only without power for about 12 hours - many people we know were without for days!  I have attached a link to some articles about the storm, with some photos of the damage around the area.  We were truly blessed to survive such a storm.  It is reported that the winds reached hurricane force speeds!  Needless to say, I put the deck furniture away for the winter Wednesday afternoon...

http://www.adn.com/2012/09/08/2617039/up-to-1000-customers-remain-without.html 

http://www.adn.com/2012/09/05/v-gallery/2612953/high-winds-ravage-anchorage.html