Winter Storm in Alaska, December 10 to 11, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Alaska, December 10 to 11, 2002
Start: 2002-12-10T18:00
End: 2002-12-11T09:00
Location: Alaska

December 10 to 11, 2002 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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.

What happened

The episode as NWS AFC wrote it up.

After a prolonged dry spell, the Anchorage Municipality finally received its first significant winter snow as a re-energized cold front stalled across the area. Snow accumulations ranged from 9 to 24 inches around Girdwood, 9 to 14 inches along the Anchorage Hillside and generally 2 to 5 inches across the rest of Anchorage and Eagle River. From midnight through 10 am, there were 45 non-injury accidents, 4 injury accidents and 52 vehicle in the ditch reports.Additionally, earlier in the morning Tuesday, freezing rain was reported in several areas of the Anchorage bowl...especially around the International Airport.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 10, 4:03 PM AST, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 10, 4:03 PM AST, 1 hour 57 minutes before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1200 PM AST TUE DEC 10 2002

ANALYSIS...BUSY MORNING WITH THE WINTERY MIX IN THE BOWL AND SNOW
ON THE HILLSIDE. ELSEWHERE THIS MORNING. SEVERAL LOWS SPINNING
AROUND THE UPPER TROF OVER THE BERING SEA. A WEAKENING FRONT IS
STILL LOCATED FROM THE LOW NEAR GAMBELL DOWN THROUGH THE
SOUTHWESTERN BOROUGHS INTO THE ANCHORAGE BOWL...CONTINUING
THROUGH THE GULF OF ALASKA DOWN TO THE LOW CURRENTLY WEST OF
PRINCE RUPERT. TO THE NORTH AND EAST A WARM AIR ADVECTION
PATTERN...TO THE SOUTH AND WEST OPEN CELL CUMULUS IS WIDESPREAD
IN THE COLD AIR ADVECTION PATTERN. COLD AIR ADVECTION IS THE
CURRENT ISSUE IN THE ANCHORAGE BOWL...KENAI VAD WIND PROFILE
SHOWS SLIGHT COLD AIR ADVECTION HERE AT 19Z.

FORECASTS...MODELS ARE STRUGGLING WITH THE CURRENT PATTERN SINCE
THERE ARE MANY MESO-SCALE FEATURES...HOWEVER THEY ARE DOING A
GOOD JOB WITH THE UPPER PATTERNS AND HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON THE
MOISTURE FIELDS AT ALL LEVELS. WILL START OUT IN THE WEST WITH
THIS COMPLEX SITUATION. THE PIN WHEEL OF LOWS WILL CONTINUE
THROUGH 60 HOURS. NORTH OF THE ALEUTIAN CHAIN...WEAK LOW AFTER
LOW WILL MAKE THE ROUNDS AND FALL APART IN THE SOUTHEASTERN
BERING SEA. SOUTH OF THE CHAIN A NORTH PACIFIC STORM WILL ENTER
INTO THE PICTURE AND SHOULD STAY JUST SOUTH OF THE CHAIN THROUGH
THE PERIOD. HEADING EAST FOR THE GULF OF ALASKA. THIS IS THE REAL
PROBLEM AREA TODAY...OUTSIDE OF THE LOCAL AREA...WHERE THE
SYSTEMS ARE HANDLED IN THE SAME MANNER WITH DIFFERENT RESULTS
THROUGH 60 HOURS. PREFER THE UKMET/MESOETA/ETA COMPROMISE
SOLUTION FOR THE GULF STORMS. LIKE THE IDEA OF A WEAKER MORE
EASTERLY TRACK THAN THE AVN THROUGH 60 HOURS. THE INTERIOR AND
THE BOWL SEEMS BEST HANDLED BY THE MESOETA. THE MESOETA PICKED UP
WELL ON THE FEATURES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THIS MORNINGS EVENTS.
THE TROF/FRONT LINE SHOULD REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY OVER BOWL AND
SOUTHWEST INTERIOR THROUGH THE PERIOD. DIFFERENT WAVES WILL
CONTINUE TO MOVE OVER THE REGION. MESOETA PICKS UP ON A MESO
SCALE LOW OVER THE WESTERN SOUND WHICH SHOULD HELP TO CONTINUE
THE SNOW THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND POSSIBLY BEYOND. ONLY REAL
CHANGE WILL BE A THE POSITIONING OF THE RESIDUAL MESO LOW OVER
PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND SHOULD SHIFT INLAND INTO THE SUSITNA VALLEY
AT 60 HOURS.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE
MARINE...GALE 13.

VJP DEC 02

Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: December 10, 6:00 PM AST to December 11, 9:00 AM AST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, December 2002

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: 5323408.