Ice Storm in Alaska, January 17, 2001

Name: Ice Storm in Alaska, January 17, 2001
Start: 2001-01-17T02:00
End: 2001-01-17T07:00
Location: Alaska

January 17, 2001 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 ice storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

1 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: January 17, 2:00 AM AST to 7:00 AM AST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

This was a major freezing rain event for the Anchorage Municipality area. Compounding the problem was the false sense of security some drivers had acquired after motoring along major roads which were pretty much ice free. Freezing rain was reported around the area early Wednesday. Road surfaces (mostly secondary) were 'glare ice', as reported by the Anchorage Daily News. In some areas ice accretion ranged from "1/4 inch to a full inch" around the entrance to the Potter Creek trail head. Numerous minor accidents and vehicles in the ditch were reported. "At one time they had a dozen cars in the ditch" said one of those involved in trying to move his Chinook RV out of a ditch. Two Anchorage Daily News articles appeared in the ALASKA section front page in regard to this event. Two pictures were included, one showing the RV "Chinook" off the road in trees, the other showing a School District mechanic hooking a tow to the front half of a school bus that was involved in a collision on Hillside Drive Wednesday morning (no students on the bus at the time).

What these are

Ice Storm: Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, January 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5229335.