A wind warning is in effect for the Matanuska Valley and other parts of Southcentral Alaska through Friday evening.
The National Weather Service issued the warning Thursday, forecasting gusts of 60 to 75 mph in the communities of Palmer, Wasilla, Sutton and Chickaloon and steady north to northeast winds of 25 to 35 mph.
Wind warnings also were issued for the Prince William Sound town of Valdez and for Juneau in Southeast. Gusts of up to 80 mph were forecast for Thursday night in Valdez. Gusts were expected to be up to 90 mph in downtown Juneau, according to weather service senior forecaster Bob Tschantz. One 82 mph gust had been recorded in Douglas by Thursday afternoon.
The weather service cautioned against travel during the windstorm, saying trees may be blown over and warning of flying debris.
While winds were calm in Anchorage on Thursday afternoon, they were expected to pick up in the evening, with gusts of 45 mph along Knik Arm and in West Anchorage through Friday.
Anchorage forecaster Christian Cassell said Southcentral winds would taper off by Friday night, though gusts would linger through the weekend.
Cassell said high-wind events in Southcentral Alaska aren't uncommon during winter, but he noted this was the first one this winter.
As of Thursday afternoon, at least one power outage was reported in the Fairview Loop area outside Wasilla, affecting 400 customers, according to Matanuska Electric Association's Facebook page. A live wire was reported down. Crews restored power by late afternoon.
MEA spokeswoman Julie Estey said crews were responding to two other small outages in the Wasilla area affecting 75 and 25 people, respectively, after trees fell on power lines. Electricity had not been restored as of 4 p.m.
"Crews are gearing up for a busy couple days," she said.
Palmer Police Cmdr. Lance Ketterling said officers had responded to what he called "typical stuff" associated with high wind. That included garbage cans blown onto roads, phone and power lines down and a blown-over trailer. Part of a metal roof blew off a building on South Cobb Street in downtown Palmer. As of Thursday afternoon, Ketterling hadn't heard of any injuries.
He did express concerns over the possibility of fires given the high wind. While there is no fire warning in effect, he said, the potential for a fire to spread during high wind is great.
"We just want people to be cautious," he said.
Caution also led the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to close the Central Landfill outside Palmer after gusts of up to 50 mph knocked down equipment and created unsafe conditions. Solid Waste Manager Butch Shapiro said transfer stations in the borough were still open Thursday afternoon.
He said even though high-wind events are not uncommon, the last time the borough closed the landfill for wind was in October 2013.