Heavy Snow, Nern P.W. Snd
- When
- December 20, 9:00 AM AST to 2:00 PM AST
- Where
- Nern P.W. Snd forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Heavy Snow in Alaska, December 20, 2003
A dissipating low in the North Gulf Coast region resulted a brief period of heavy snow over the community of Valdez. 1 inches from the morning of the 20th into the afternoon of the 20th.
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 AFC wrote it up.
A dissipating low in the North Gulf Coast region resulted a brief period of heavy snow over the community of Valdez. Snow fell at a rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour for 3 hours with the storm total of 16.1 inches from the morning of the 20th into the afternoon 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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 19, 9:00 PM AST, 12 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 19, 9:00 PM AST, 12 hours before
SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION 900 PM AST FRI DEC 19 2003 .DISCUSSION...THE MODEL ARE NOT IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON THE NEXT LARGE LOW COMING INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA SUNDAY NIGHT. GFS MOVES IT FASTER AND IS STRONGER THAN THE ETA MODEL. I WILL LEAN TOWARD THE GFS SOLUTION TONIGHT, BECAUSE IT DOES A BETTER JOB FOR SYSTEMS COMING OUT OF THE NORTH PACIFIC. CONFIDENCE IS NOT VERY HIGH ON ANY OF THE MODELS. AT 500 MB. THE UPPER TROUGH ALONG THE WEST COAST OF ALASKA WILL SLOWLY MOVE INTO THE WESTERN INTERIOR SATURDAY NIGHT AND WILL SLOWLY MOVE INTO THE SUSITNA VALLEY MONDAY. THE WEAK 984 MB NEAR HOMER WILL DISSIPATE TONIGHT. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHEAST ALASKA SATURDAY AND INTO WESTERN CANADA SATURDAY NIGHT. A WEAK LOW WILL DEVELOP SOUTH OF PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND SATURDAY AND WILL DISSIPATE SATURDAY NIGHT. THE SNOW OVER SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA HAS ENDED ALONG THE COASTAL SECTIONS AND WILL END OVER THE INTERIOR LATER TONIGHT. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL PERSIST ALONG THE CENTRAL GULF COAST THROUGH SATURDAY. A 978 MB LOW 120 MILES SOUTH OF SAND POINT AND WILL DISSIPATE 300 SOUTH OF KODIAK SATURDAY. A 977 MB LOW 260 MILES SOUTH OF COLD BAY WILL MOVE TO NEAR MIDDLETON ISLAND AND DEEPEN TO 955 MB SUNDAY NIGHT. MORE RAIN AND SNOW WILL MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL GULF COAST SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. STRONG EAST TO NORTH WINDS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE COAST AND THROUGH MOUNTAIN PASSES AROUND PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AND THE KENAI PENINSULA SUNDAY. .AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY PUBLIC...NONE. MARINE...NONE. FIRE WEATHER...NONE. NM DEC 03
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
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
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2003
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: 5336538.