Name: Blizzard in Alaska, December 18 to 20, 2002
Start: 2002-12-18T16:55
End: 2002-12-20T07:53
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

A strong storm reaching 946 mb moved slowly north over the southern Bering Sea and brought blizzard conditions to Gambell on St. Lawrence Island (zone 213), and blizzard conditions were also likely during this time at Cape Romanzof on zone 214. As the circulation from the low pressure center expanded north, blizzard conditions also occurred at Wainwright in zone 201 the morning of the 20th.

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 Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 18, 2:30 PM AST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 18, 2:30 PM AST, 2 hours 25 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM AST WED DEC 18 2002

A DEEP LOW ALOFT IN THE WESTERN BERING WILL EXPAND SLOWLY EAST OVER
THE ENTIRE BERING BY THE WEEKEND. A LOW ALOFT OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA
WILL WEAKEN THU AS A RIDGE ALOFT NOW OVER THE EASTERN BERING BUILDS
EAST OVER MAINLAND ALASKA. THIS RIDGE WILL THEN BE UNDERCUT FRI FORMING
A HIGH OVER THE ARCTIC SLOPE AS THE BERING LOW EJECTS SIGNIFICANT
SHORT WAVE ENERGY EASTWARD ACROSS THE GULF OF ALASKA. RESULT IS THAT
THE WEST COAST WILL SEE HEAVY WEATHER NEXT SEVERAL DAYS WHILE THE
REMAINDER OF NORTHERN ALASKA SEES SLOWLY DECREASING CLOUDS.

SHORT RANGE MODELS SHOW SIMILAR PATTERNS...WITH DIFFERENCES AFTER
48HRS ON STRENGTH OF THE BERING SYSTEM AND WITH ANOTHER LOW MOVING
EASTWARD SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS. FAVOR THE SLOWER ETA SOLLUTION ON
THESE DIFFERENCES PER THE NCEP GUIDANCE SHOWING THIS AGREES BETTER
WITH THE ENSEMBLE MEAN AND THE GREAT UNCERTAINTY IN THE AVN.

LOW ALOFT NEAR PAEG WILL DRIFT SLOWLY WEST TO PAFA BY 3AM FRI AND
THEN DISSIPATE. PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WILL
SLOWLY DISSIPATE FRI AM AS WELL. EXPECT ANOTHER INCH OR TWO OF
50/1 SNOW OVER MUCH OF THE EASTERN INTERIOR THROUGH FRI AM.
VORT CENTER NOW NEAR PANN WILL DISSIPATE OVER PAIN TONIGHT. SLIGHTLY
HEAVIER SNOWFALL ASSOCIATED WITH THIS.

TROUGH ALOFT FROM PABR-PAMC WILL MOVE TO PASC-PAMH 3AM THU...PABA-PAMH
3PM THU THEN DISSIPATE. MID TO HIGH CLOUDS AND FLURRIES EAST OF THIS
TROUGH...WITH CLEARING TO WEST.

DEEP LOW IN THE BERING WILL REMAIN WEST OF FORECAST AREA. THE
ASSOCIATED STRONG OCCLUDED FRONT IN THE CENTRAL BERING WILL MOVE TO
ANADYR-ST MATTHEW ISLAND-PACD 3AM THU...PAGM-PAMY 3PM THU...BERING
STRAIT-PAMY 3AM FRI AND THEN DISSIPATING. GALE FORCE WINDS EXTEND
WELL AHEAD OF THE FRONT WITH STORM FORCE WINDS ALONG THE FRONT
WEAKENING THU AS THE FRONT WEAKENS. SNOW WITHIN 200 NM OF FRONT
WILL CAUSE BLIZZARD ZONE 213 TONIGHT AND NEAR BLIZZARD 214 THU.

SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE FROM NORTH OF THE ARCTIC COAST WILL BUILD
THOUGH FRI. THIS COMBINED WITH THE DEEP BERING LOW WILL CAUSE
INCREASING EAST WINDS.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING 213.
MARINE...STORM 14, NRN 9B. GALES 9A, SRN 9B, 10B.
         BRISK 10A, 11A. HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 14, 9A, 9B, 10B.

JB DEC 02

Event by event

3 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Yukon Delta

When: December 18, 4:55 PM AST to December 19, 4:55 PM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: December 19, 12:15 AM AST to 2:15 AM AST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast

When: December 20, 12:53 AM AST to 7:53 AM AST
Where: Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Blizzard: Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

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: 5321599, 5322126, 5321600.