Bomb cyclone off the Aleutian Islands
That's only because of where the storm is centered: over uninhabited islands and ocean in the very far western Aleutian Islands, said Rick Thoman, a climate scientist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment & Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
"Kind of like a tornado in a cornfield versus in the center of a city," he said.
The storm, which has been described as a "bomb cyclone," has already set records for the lowest sea level pressure ever recorded in Alaska and is considered the "deepest" cyclone in the state since record keeping began in the 1950s, according to climatologist Brian Brettschneider.
Early Thursday afternoon it was windy in Adak, but not remarkably so, said Barbara Tolliver, who operates a hunting lodge with her husband on the island.
Comment: 26-year October cold record broken in Delhi, India