Watch: Alaska cruise ship blown away from dock during rare severe thunderstorm
Video from witnesses on shore shows mooring lines snap along the pier, and the ship drifting out into Gastineau Channel as gusts reached 45-60 mph.
60 mph winds pull cruise ship from dock in Alaska
A rare severe thunderstorm blew a Celebrity cruise ship away from the dock in Juneau, Alaska on Monday.
JUNEAU, Alaska -- A rare severe thunderstorm brought ferocious winds to southeastern Alaska Monday afternoon, blowing a massive cruise ship away from the pier.
The Celebrity Edge ship was moored in Juneau when thunderstorms suddenly kicked up strong winds.
A gust at the Federal Building in downtown Juneau reached 60 mph while the nearby Coast Guard station clocked a gust at 47 mph, according to National Weather Service data.
Video from witnesses on shore shows mooring lines snap along the pier, and the ship drifting out into Gastineau Channel.
"I’ve never seen a storm come in so fast," videographer Hannah Hansen told Storyful. "It came through the channel within a couple minutes. Everything got really dark and gusts of wind hit going 60 miles an hour or more."
Celebrity cruise ship Edge blown from pier in Juneau, Alaska during thunderstorm on June 16, 2025.
(Alex Davison via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Hansen told Storyful she was working when the storm came through. "I ran over to the window and started seeing the ship break," she said.
FOX Weather has reached out to Celebrity's parent company Royal Caribbean Group for more information on what occurred and if anyone was injured.
The thunderstorm prompted the first Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Juneau, according to the NWS.
ALASKA CAPITAL CITY RECORDS FIRST-EVER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
"Severe Thunderstorm Warnings are rare in Alaska due to cooler air temperatures and limited daytime heating," the FOX Forecast Center said. "This lessens the atmospheric instability needed for strong storms. In addition, there is a lack of moisture to support severe weather, making the overall environment unfavorable for thunderstorm formation."
The last Severe Thunderstorm Warning that was issued by the NWS Juneau office came almost six years ago.
The Edge left Seattle on Friday to begin its current 7-day Alaskan cruise, according to the Port of Seattle.