Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley
- When
- January 17, 2:36 AM AST to 4:11 AM AST
- Where
- Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Blizzard in Alaska, January 17, 2002
Blizzard conditions were reported at Kotzebue. Wind gusts to 40 knots (45 mph) and blowing snow reduced the visibility to less than 1/4 mile.
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.
Blizzard conditions were reported at Kotzebue. Wind gusts to 40 knots (45 mph) and blowing snow reduced the visibility to less than 1/4 mile. These conditions resulted ahead of and during passage of a strong occluded front that moved across the region from the south. This frontal boundary was associated with a strong low pressure center located over the central Bering Sea.
Event by event
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- High Surf in U.S. Virgin Islands, January 17, 2002
- Strong Wind in Hawaii, January 17 to 20, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Kentucky, January 17 to 18, 2002
- High Surf in Hawaii, January 17 to 20, 2002
- Winter Storm in Alaska, January 17, 2002
- Heavy Snow in New York, January 17, 2002
- High Wind in Alaska, January 17, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Alaska, January 17, 2002
- Ice Storm in Alaska, January 17 to 18, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 17, 2002
- Winter Storm in Alaska, January 17 to 18, 2002
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 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: 5279713.