Alert archive / Alaska / Blizzard Warnings in 2020
Blizzard Warning 14, NWS Fairbanks, AK
NWS Fairbanks, AK issued this blizzard warning at Apr 6, 2020, 9:24 PM AKDT. It was in force for 20 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 6, 2020, 9:24 PM AKDT (05:24 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 7, 2020, 5:14 PM AKDT
- In force
- 20 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Fairbanks, AK
The text
As transmitted.
996 WWAK41 PAFG 070524 WSWNSB URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 924 PM AKDT Mon Apr 6 2020 AKZ204-071500- /O.UPG.PAFG.WW.Y.0063.000000T0000Z-200407T1800Z/ /O.NEW.PAFG.BZ.W.0014.200407T0524Z-200408T0200Z/ Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast- Including Kaktovik and Flaxman Island 924 PM AKDT Mon Apr 6 2020 ...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM AKDT TUESDAY... * WHAT...Blizzard conditions expected. Travel will be very difficult to impossible. * WHERE...Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast. * WHEN...Until 6 PM Tuesday. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Winds gusting as high as 50 mph will cause whiteout conditions in blowing snow. Significant drifting of the snow is likely. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Blizzard Warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to whiteout conditions, making travel extremely difficult. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. $$ AKZ203-071500- /O.NEW.PAFG.BZ.W.0014.200407T0524Z-200407T2000Z/ Central Beaufort Sea Coast- Including Nuiqsut, Prudhoe Bay, Alpine, Deadhorse, and Kuparuk 924 PM AKDT Mon Apr 6 2020 ...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON AKDT TUESDAY... * WHAT...Blizzard conditions occurring. Travel will be very difficult to impossible. * WHERE...Central Beaufort Sea Coast. * WHEN...Until noon Tuesday. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Winds gusting as high as 40 mph will cause whiteout conditions in blowing snow. Significant drifting of the snow is likely. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Blizzard Warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to whiteout conditions, making travel extremely difficult. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. $$ AKZ206-071500- /O.EXT.PAFG.WW.Y.0060.000000T0000Z-200407T2000Z/ Northeastern Brooks Range- Including Anaktuvuk Pass, Atigun Pass, Galbraith Lake, Sagwon, and Franklin Bluffs 924 PM AKDT Mon Apr 6 2020 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON AKDT TUESDAY... * WHAT...Snow and blowing snow occurring. Visibility one half mile or less at times, particularly north of Atigun Pass. Plan on difficult travel conditions. Additional snow accumulations of up to one inch is expected. * WHERE...Northeastern Brooks Range. * WHEN...Until noon Tuesday. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Winds gusting as high as 35 mph will cause areas of blowing and drifting snow. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Winter Weather Advisory for snow means periods of snow will cause travel difficulties. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. $$
3 follow-up statements
351 WWAK41 PAFG 071049 WSWNSB URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 249 AM AKDT Tue Apr 7 2020 AKZ203-072000- /O.CON.PAFG.BZ.W.0014.000000T0000Z-200407T2000Z/ Central Beaufort Sea Coast- Including Nuiqsut, Prudhoe Bay, Alpine, Deadhorse, and Kuparuk 249 AM AKDT Tue Apr 7 2020 ...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON AKDT TODAY... * WHAT...Blizzard conditions occurring. Travel will be very difficult to impossible. * WHERE...Central Beaufort Sea Coast. * WHEN...Until noon Tuesday. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Winds gusting as high as 40 mph will cause whiteout conditions in blowing snow. Significant drifting of the snow is likely. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Blizzard Warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to whiteout conditions, making travel extremely difficult. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. $$ AKZ204-072000- /O.CON.PAFG.BZ.W.0014.000000T0000Z-200408T0200Z/ Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast- Including Kaktovik and Flaxman Island 249 AM AKDT Tue Apr 7 2020 ...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM AKDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Blizzard conditions expected. Travel will be very difficult to impossible. * WHERE...Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast. * WHEN...Until 6 PM Tuesday. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Winds gusting as high as 50 mph will cause whiteout conditions in blowing snow. Significant drifting of the snow is likely. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Blizzard Warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to whiteout conditions, making travel extremely difficult. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. $$ AKZ206-072000- /O.CON.PAFG.WW.Y.0060.000000T0000Z-200407T2000Z/ Northeastern Brooks Range- Including Anaktuvuk Pass, Atigun Pass, Galbraith Lake, Sagwon, and Franklin Bluffs 249 AM AKDT Tue Apr 7 2020 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON AKDT TODAY... * WHAT...Snow and blowing snow occurring. Visibility one half mile or less at times, particularly north of Atigun Pass. Plan on difficult travel conditions. Additional snow accumulations of up to one inch is expected. * WHERE...Northeastern Brooks Range. * WHEN...Until noon Tuesday. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Winds gusting as high as 35 mph will cause areas of blowing and drifting snow. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Winter Weather Advisory for snow and blowing snow means periods of snow and blowing snow will cause travel difficulties. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. $$
941 WWAK41 PAFG 071948 WSWNSB URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 1148 AM AKDT Tue Apr 7 2020 AKZ203-072100- /O.CAN.PAFG.BZ.W.0014.000000T0000Z-200407T2000Z/ Central Beaufort Sea Coast- Including Nuiqsut, Prudhoe Bay, Alpine, Deadhorse, and Kuparuk 1148 AM AKDT Tue Apr 7 2020 ...BLIZZARD WARNING IS CANCELLED... $$ AKZ206-072100- /O.CAN.PAFG.WW.Y.0060.000000T0000Z-200407T2000Z/ Northeastern Brooks Range- Including Anaktuvuk Pass, Atigun Pass, Galbraith Lake, Sagwon, and Franklin Bluffs 1148 AM AKDT Tue Apr 7 2020 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS CANCELLED... $$ AKZ204-080200- /O.CON.PAFG.BZ.W.0014.000000T0000Z-200408T0200Z/ Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast- Including Kaktovik and Flaxman Island 1148 AM AKDT Tue Apr 7 2020 ...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM AKDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Blizzard conditions expected. Travel will be very difficult to impossible. * WHERE...Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast. * WHEN...Until 6 PM Tuesday. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Winds gusting as high as 50 mph will cause whiteout conditions in blowing snow. Significant drifting of the snow is likely. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Blizzard Warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to whiteout conditions, making travel extremely difficult. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. $$
103 WWAK41 PAFG 080114 WSWNSB URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 514 PM AKDT Tue Apr 7 2020 AKZ204-080215- /O.CAN.PAFG.BZ.W.0014.000000T0000Z-200408T0200Z/ Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast- Including Kaktovik and Flaxman Island 514 PM AKDT Tue Apr 7 2020 ...BLIZZARD WARNING IS CANCELLED... $$
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this blizzard warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this blizzard warning went out at Apr 6, 3:13 PM AKDT, 6 hours 11 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 6, 3:13 PM AKDT, 6 hours 11 minutes before
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion...CORRECTED National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 313 PM AKDT Mon Apr 6 2020 .SYNOPSIS... A deep upper level low over the northeastern Interior will continue to weaken and move east into Canada ushering in a more quiet weather pattern over Northern Alaska. Widespread snow showers continue this afternoon with brief heavy bursts of snow and lower visibility in blowing snow as gusty winds push to the surface in and near the showers. The snow showers have diminished over the southern portions of the West Coast and Western Interior and will diminish over the Norther portions of the West Coast and Western Interior late this afternoon. The snow showers will diminish this later this evening and tonight over the Central Interior and will diminish Tuesday over the Eastern Interior. Below normal temperatures are expected again over the region through mid week with a slow warm up through the end of the week. && .DISCUSSION... Aloft...At 500 mb a complex long wave trough with a 495 dam low centered 300 nm north of Wrangel Island and a 505 dam low centered over the McKenzie Delta will push east tonight and Tuesday. A strong shortwave over the Southern Bering Sea will push east over Bristol Bay Tuesday and then into the Northern Gulf of Alaska to be centered just east of Kodiak Island on Wednesday. Strong westerly flow develops between and 500 dam low just north of Point Barrow and a ridge building north into Southern Alaska on Thursday and Friday. 850 mb temperatures over northern will start off unseasonably cool this evening and will warm slowly through the week. 850 mb temperatures currently near 20 below over Fairbanks will warm to near 14 below on Wednesday and will continue to warm to near 10 below by Friday. Clouds and winds will prevent surface temperatures from tanking over much of Northern Alaska however surface temperatures are still expected to be around 10 degrees below normal tonight and Tuesday but will recover to near normal by the end of the week. Surface...A 997 mb low is centered near Prudhoe Bay will continue to weaken into a trough as it pushes east past Demarcation Point Tuesday morning. Weak high pressure will remain in place over South Central and Southwest Alaska tonight and will push into the Interior. A 992 mb low pushes north and east into the Northeast Gulf of Alaska on Wednesday. As this low pushes north and east a front wrapping around the low will push a front over the southern Interior on Wednesday night and Thursday. As the weak front pushes into the Southern portions of the Eastern and Central Interior expect a chance of light snow Tuesday and Wednesday. Weak high pressure will build in over Southwest Alaska and the Interior Wednesday and Thursday. Models... The 12Z model suite initialized well against the 12Z surface analysis and verified well against the 18z surface analysis. Models are in better agreement with the overall synoptic features than they were for the last several runs. Made only minor edits to ongoing forecast package and local edits for know windy areas. North Slope and Brooks Range: A weather front continues to push eastward over the North Slope through Tuesday. This front will bring periods of periods of snow resulting in 1 to 2 inches of snow through Tuesday. Northwest winds continue to diminish this afternoon and will become west to southwest tonight and Tuesday. East of Utqiagvik, light southwest winds will ramp up tonight and becoming westerly as the front passes. The strongest winds will be east of Deadhorse in the 25 to 35 mph range with gusts to 45 mph. This will cause areas of blowing snow. We opted to continue the Winter Weather Advisory blowing snow in zone 204 through Tuesday morning as winds are expected to remain gusty in this area through mid morning on Tuesday. The Winter Weather Advisory for zone 206 for low visibilities in blowing snow through the Eastern Brooks Range Passes continues through this evening. Visibilities are expected to improve later this evening as winds through the Eastern Brooks Range passes diminish. West Coast and Western Interior: Conditions continue to improve tonight as the low over the Interior continues to move east and weaken. Snow showers over the Western Interior will taper off this evening from the west to the east, with an additional inch of snow possible east of Galena this evening. Colder temperatures expected tonight with single digits above zero and below zero expected in the Western Interior. High temperatures in the mid to upper teens are expected in the Western Interior. Temperatures will slowly trend upwards through the week. Central and Eastern Interior: Snow showers, some producing brief heavy snow, strong winds, and low visibilities in blowing snow will gradually diminish late tonight in the Central Interior and Tuesday in the Eastern Interior as an upper level trough moves across the state. Another 1 to 2 inches of snowfall is expected as the showers pass through the area. Gusty southwest winds will continue through Tuesday, with areas of blowing and drifting snow expected over highway summits. Colder temperatures expected tonight and tuesday with a gradual warm up through the week. Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None. && .FIRE WEATHER...None. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ204-AKZ206. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ240-PKZ245. && CCC APR 20
The office that day
Everything else NWS Fairbanks, AK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 7, 2:55 AM AKDT | Gale Warning | AFG | 13 hr | |
| Apr 7, 3:57 PM AKDT | Brisk Wind Advisory | AFG | 11 hr |
Nearby
Blizzard Warnings in Alaska, 2020Every blizzard warning in 2020
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text.