A landspout tornado is spotted near Wolverine Peak in Alaska's Chugach State Park on April 19, 2024. (Geremy Clarion via NWS Anchorage / NOAA)
Alaska may be more known for snow and ice – Nome just had a Blizzard Warning on Thursday – but last Friday, the state borrowed a page from its Midwestern friends and reported a rare tornado for the first time in nearly 20 years.
How rare? It may be just the fifth tornado on record anywhere in the state since it was granted statehood in 1959.
The weak landspout tornado was sighted by a spotter on Friday evening along Rusty Point at 3,500 feet near Wolverine Peak inside Chugach State Park.
The area is remote, described by the National Weather Service office in Anchorage as an uninhabited tundra environment at least 2 miles from the nearest residents on the Anchorage Hillside.
The landspout was weak and brief and didn't cause any damage.
What is a landspout tornado?
Landspouts are a type of tornado that forms differently from typical tornadoes. Most twisters form in supercell thunderstorms that contain their own rotating updraft.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TORNADO AND A LANDSPOUT?
On the other hand, landspouts occur when winds collide at the surface and make their own vortex as a thunderstorm passes overhead. Updrafts from the passing thunderstorm will pull this rotating vortex skyward and create a tornado-like appearance.
Exceedingly rare Alaska tornado report
Research from NOAA’s Storm Events Database only shows three prior tornadoes recorded in Alaska history: Two F-0 tornadoes four days apart in June 2004 near Bethel and another F-0 on July 25, 2005, in Sand Point.
A tornado touches down on Alaska's Popof Island, Sand Point on July 25, 2005. (NWS/Anchorage / NOAA)
The Tornado Project also reported a tornado of unknown intensity and location in the state on Nov. 4, 1959 – less than a year after Alaska was granted statehood.
UN-TORNADO ALLEY? THIS SPOT HAS GONE 21 YEARS SINCE ITS LAST TORNADO WARNING
Alaska’s rugged and typically frigid climate is hostile to severe weather and tornado development. The state's terrain is vast, and its population is sparse, meaning other similar tornadoes may have gone unreported.
Research indicates that none of Alaska’s three NWS offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau have ever issued a Tornado Warning.