Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- January 31, 10:55 AM AST to 6:55 PM AST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Blizzard in Alaska, January 31, 2002
Tin City reported visibility reduced to zero for several hours with blowing snow and strong winds. These blizzard conditions developed in response to an increasing pressure gradient between high pressure over the Chukchi Sea and a low over the southern Bering Sea.
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.
Tin City reported visibility reduced to zero for several hours with blowing snow and strong winds. These blizzard conditions developed in response to an increasing pressure gradient between high pressure over the Chukchi Sea and a low over the southern Bering Sea. Rapidly increasing surface winds greater than 35 mph resulted in blowing snow and reduced visibility.
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
- Avalanche in Utah, January 31, 2002
- Flash Flood in Illinois, January 31, 2002
- Ice Storm and Heavy Snow in New York, January 31, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Iowa, January 31, 2002
- Winter Storm in New York, January 31, 2002
- Winter Storm in Vermont, January 31, 2002
- Excessive Heat in West Virginia, January 31, 2002
- Winter Storm in Vermont, January 31, 2002
- Winter Storm in Vermont, January 31, 2002
- Ice Storm in Indiana, January 31, 2002
- Damaging Wind and High Wind in Arkansas, January 31, 2002
- Winter Storm in New York, January 31, 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: 5279789.