Publication Date December 16, 2015 | The Washington Post

Aleutian city manager lampoons Bering Sea storm forecast despite multiple days’ notice

United States
A powerful cyclone battered Adak, Alaska with Category 2 hurricane-force winds Saturday night. Image: JMA/RAMMB/CIRA
A powerful cyclone battered Adak, Alaska with Category 2 hurricane-force winds Saturday night. Image: JMA/RAMMB/CIRA

One of the most powerful cyclones on record in the North Pacific Ocean ravaged the outer Aleutian Islands over the weekend. The storm was what meteorologists call a “bomb cyclone” — one that is strengthening so rapidly that it drops over 24 millibars in 24 hours. This storm doubled that rate.

Hurricane-force winds gusted to 122 mph on the Aleutian Islands. The storm ended up being one of the top five strongest cyclones that the Weather Service had ever measured in Alaska