Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys
- When
- March 10, 11:00 PM AST to March 11, 3:00 AM AST
- Where
- Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Extreme Cold and High Wind in Alaska, March 10 to 11, 2001
While strong and cold High pressure covered the Arctic Ocean and northern Alaska, a weakening weather front moving over southern Alaska caused a locally strong pressure gradient across the south slopes of the Brooks Range, resulting in high winds and low wind chills. The Remote Automatic Weather Station (RAWS) at Makpik Creek reported winds gusts as high as 59 mph, and wind chills as low as 75…
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS AFG wrote it up.
While strong and cold High pressure covered the Arctic Ocean and northern Alaska, a weakening weather front moving over southern Alaska caused a locally strong pressure gradient across the south slopes of the Brooks Range, resulting in high winds and low wind chills. The Remote Automatic Weather Station (RAWS) at Makpik Creek reported winds gusts as high as 59 mph, and wind chills as low as 75 below zero (Farenheit).
Event by event
1 extreme cold/wind chill, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys
- When
- March 11, 1:00 AM AST to 8:00 AM AST
- Where
- Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys forecast zone
- Measured
- 51 kt (59 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
What these are
- Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
- Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Avalanche in Utah, March 10, 2001
- High Surf in Puerto Rico, March 10, 2001
- Winter Storm in Colorado, March 10 to 11, 2001
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 10 to 11, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, March 10, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, March 10 to 11, 2001
- Hail in Texas, March 10, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, March 10 to 11, 2001
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 10, 2001
- Winter Storm in Kansas, March 10 to 11, 2001
- High Wind in Alaska, March 10 to 11, 2001
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 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: 5237490, 5237489.