Heavy Snow in Alaska, March 16 to 17, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Alaska, March 16 to 17, 2002
Start: 2002-03-16T18:00
End: 2002-03-17T21:00
Location: Alaska

March 16 to 17, 2002 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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.

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: March 16, 6:00 PM AST to March 17, 9:00 PM AST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

A new 24 hour record snowfall was established for Anchorage. Total snowfall for a 24 hour period at the International Airport reached an official 28.7 inches, however reports of 31 inches of snow were received across southwest Anchorage. The new record was nearly twice the old 24 hour record of 15.5 inches set in 1955. Much less snowfall occurred across southeast Anchorage, which remained in a "snow shadow" due to low level, moderate easterly winds moving off the mountains. In fact, just outside of Anchorage, on the way into Turnagain Arm, snowfall totals decreased rapidly...with Girdwood receiving only 3-4 inches. This is typically just opposite of what normally occurs. An extensive review of the meteorological mechanism for the heavy snow has been undertaken by the Anchorage Forecast Office...however "isentropic uplift" is strongly suspected as a leading cause.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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, March 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: 5283119.