Blizzard in Alaska, December 4 to 5, 2002

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, December 4 to 5, 2002
Start: 2002-12-04T21:43
End: 2002-12-05T02:42
Location: Alaska

December 4 to 5, 2002 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

With an existing moderate easterly pressure gradient over the Western Arctic Coast, an occlusion aloft moved over the area bringing a period of blizzard conditions to Point Lay and Wainwright.

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 AFG wrote it up.

With an existing moderate easterly pressure gradient over the Western Arctic Coast, an occlusion aloft moved over the area bringing a period of blizzard conditions to Point Lay and Wainwright.

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 4, 2:30 PM AST, 7 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 2:30 PM AST, 7 hours 13 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM AST WED DEC 4 2002

RECENT RUNS OF ALL MID RANGE MODELS HAVE BEEN QUITE CONSISTENT IN
WEAKENING THE RIDGE ALOFT OVER WESTERN CANADA BEGINNING ABOUT
SATURDAY...WITH 500 MB HEIGHTS OVER MOST OF ALASKA FALLING FAIRLY
STEADILY THEREAFTER...THOUGH FLOW ALOFT REMAINS SOUTHERLY THROUGH
AT LEAST EARLY NEXT WEEK. ACCORDINGLY...WE HAVE INTRODUCED A COOLING
TREND IN THE MID-RANGE FORECASTS WHILE KEEPING TEMPERATURES ABOVE
NORMAL. THE EFFECT LIKELY WILL BE STRONGEST IN THE INTERIOR ZONES
AND WEAKEST IN THE ARCTIC ZONES.

THERES STILL PLENTY OF WEATHER TO DEAL WITH IN THE SHORT TERM. THE
FREEZING RAIN AND WHATNOT OVER MOST OF THE WEST COAST ZONES HAS BEEN
SLOW TO TURN DECISIVELY TO SNOW SHOWERS...THOUGH DYNAMIC CONSIDERATIONS
INDICATE THAT IT SHOULD BE FINISHED BY NOW EXCEPT MAYBE OVER ZONES
207 THROUGH 210. PROBABLY JUST TRACE AMOUNTS EXCEPT IN ZONE 207.
WE MAY HAVE TO WEASEL TONIGHTS FORECASTS A BIT.

SIMILARLY...THE TROUGH ALOFT ALONG A LINE FROM ABOUT PAFM TO PAHO
AT THIS TIME HAS GENERATED SOME SLEET AT PAMC AS WELL AS RAIN (OR
FREEZING RAIN) AND SNOW. DOWNSLOPE APPEARS TOO WEAK TO PREVENT THIS
PRECIPITATION FROM SPREADING INTO ZONES 220/21/22/25 AND INTO ZONE 224
NORTH OF CHICKEN...THOUGH IT WILL NO DOUBT BE SHOWERY...AND VERY LIGHT
IF MEASURABLE AT ALL. ITS POSSIBLE THAT IT MIGHT REACH FARTHER INTO
THE SOUTHEASTERN INTERIOR BUT WE WILL GIVE IT NO MENTION THERE.
DESPITE OUR BITTER EXPERIENCE ON THE WEST COAST...WE WILL HAVE THE
MIXED PRECIPITATION TONIGHT BECOMING SNOW SHOWERS BY MORNING.

THE 1004 MB LOW NORTHWEST OF PATC IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN TO A TROUGH
TONIGHT THOUGH THERE WILL STILL BE A SMALL 1012 MB CENTER AT 12Z.
THE NEXT NORTH PACIFIC LOW WILL ONLY BE AS FAR NORTH AS PADU AT THIS
TIME THURSDAY...THOUGH THE OCCLUDED FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE SAINT
MATTHEW ISLAND WATERS THURSDAY MORNING TO LIE FROM ABOUT SAINT MATTHEW
ISLAND TO DALL POINT AT 3PM THURSDAY.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
.PUBLIC...FREEZING RAIN ZONE 207.
.MARINE...GALE AREAS 14..9B AND 11A
          SCA AREAS 9A..10A/B.

DJH DEC 02

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast

When: December 4, 9:43 PM AST to December 5, 2:42 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

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: 5322124.