Winter Storm in Alaska, December 22, 2003

Name: Winter Storm in Alaska, December 22, 2003
Start: 2003-12-22T00:00
End: 2003-12-22T08:00
Location: Alaska

December 22, 2003 · NWS AJK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
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 AJK wrote it up.

A low that bottomed out at 967mb, moved north from the southern Gulf up into Prince William Sound during this time. A strong southerly flow developed behind the associated front and ushered in warmer air. Sea level locations throughout Southeast Alaska changed over to rain as the snow level quickly rose in elevation during this storm. Only the higher elevations along the Klondike Highway remained snow into Monday morning. A quick foot of snow was reported overnight on White Pass (3116' ASL). The nearest automated observing station located at the Skagway airport measured south winds gusting as high as 43 mph. The combination of heavy snow and gusty winds helped cause a three foot high, 120 foot long avalanche over the Klondike Highway. This major roadway between the Northern Panhandle and Canada, was closed for nearly 18 hours. No injuries were reported.

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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 21, 10:45 AM AST, 13 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 21, 10:45 AM AST, 13 hours 15 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1045 AM AST SUN DEC 21 2003

.SYNOPSIS...
.SHORT RANGE...ROUGHLY 952 MB LOW ENTERING PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND
FROM THE SOUTH BY 12Z TONIGHT. EXTREMELY BAROCLINIC ENVIRONMENT
IN THE GULF OF ALASKA IS AT LEAST ONE THIRD AGAIN STRONGER THAN
THE 12Z MODELS USING THERMAL GRADIENT RETRIEVAL OFF OF THE
BIORKA RADAR.  12Z YAKUTAT IS EXTREME...A RARE FACTOR OF 1.8 OVER
THE MODELS BUT NOT AS CONFIDENT A MEASURE AS FROM THE RADAR
CAPABILITIES.  WHAT HAS BEEN CALLED A BENT BACK WARM FRONTAL
STRUCTURE DOES SEEM TO FIT THIS SYSTEM...AND THE GOES IR LOOP
IS EASIER TO RECONCILE WITH SUCH A STRONG WARM FRONTAL STRUCTURE
THAN THE MORE ORTHODOX NORWEGIAN CONCEPTUAL MODEL.

AVIATION HAS HIGHER THERMAL WIND MAGNITUDES EARLIER THAN THE
ETA BUT BY 18Z ETA STRONGER THAN THE AVN.  CONSISTENT WITH
THESE RESULTS THE AVN HAS STRONGER CYCLOGENESIS AND THE
ETA HAS A STRONGER FRONTAL STRUCTURE.

ACTIONS BEING TAKEN...COORD WITH ANC AS WFO JUNEAU HAS
RAISED MARINE AREA 52 FROM GALE TO STORM THIS AFTERNOON.
HIGH WIND WARN FOOTPRINT HAS BEEN EXPANDED FOR LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND FOR TONIGHT.

.LONG RANGE...STRONG LOW WILL MOVE INLAND DURING THE DAY MON WITH
RELAXING GRADIENT AND COLDER AIR MOVING INTO PANHANDLE DURING THE
DAY. RESIDUAL SURACE TROF WILL REMAIN ON NORTH GULF COAST TO
MERGE WITH NEXT SYSTEM TO AFFECT SE AK.

SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NEW AVN AND LAST NIGHTS MRF BY
TUE MORNING. MRF HAD A 971 MB LOW MOVING INTO THE SOUTHCENTRAL
GULF BY THEN...RUNNING IT UP THE OUTER COAST AND INLAND NEAR PAYA
BY WED MORNING. NEW RUN OF THE AVN HAS THIS LOW 12 MB
WEAKER...AND KEEPS MOST OF THE ENERGY SOUTH OF THE
PANHANDLE...MOVING A 975 MB LOW INTO QUEEN CHARLOTTE SOUND BY WED
MORNING WITH A RESIDUAL TROF OVER SE AK. THIS WILL ALLOW COOLER
TEMPS TO REMAIN OVER THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE AND LESS PCPN THERE
AS WELL. THIS IS A RETURN TO A PREVIOUS SOLUTION FOR THIS STORM
FROM SEVERAL DAYS AGO.

WED NIGHT...NEW AVN HAS THE GUIDING UPPER LOW A LITTLE FURTHER
NORTH THAN MRF AND THE UPPER TROF MOVING MUCH MORE QUICKLY
THROUGH THE PANHANDLE WED NIGHT. THIS PUTS A WEAK SHORTWAVE RIDGE
OVER THE PANHANDLE BY 12Z THU MORNING. THIS IS  ASSOCIATED WITH A
FAST MOVING 987 MB LOW WHICH WILL BE OVER THE COAST SOUTH OF
SITKA BY 18Z THU MORNING. THIS BRINGS IN A GOOD SHOT OF WARMER
OVERRUNNING PCPN OVER THE COLD AIR IN PLACE IN THE PANHANDLE FOR
SNOW LIKELY IN THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE ON THU...POSSIBLY MIXED
WITH RAIN IN THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE. IT MOVES THROUGH QUICKLY
WITH COLDER AIR AND SHOWERS BEHIND IN A SHORTWAVE TROF THU NIGHT.
THE COLD AIR IS BACK IN PLACE BY FRI WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS...MAINLY SOUTHERN PANHANDLE.

BY FRI MORNING...HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE INTERIOR AND
A TROF WILL BE PUSHED SLOWLY SOUTH THROUGH THE PANHANDLE. THIS
WILL BRING DRY AND COLD WEATHER NORTH OF THE TROF AND SNOW
SHOWERS SOUTH OF THE TROF UNTIL SUNDAY MORNING WHEN THE NEXT
SYSTEM BRINGS MOISTURE OVER THE COLD AIR FOR SNOW LIKELY
THROUGHOUT SE AK.

.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR ZONES 17...20 THROUGH 28.
MARINE...STORM WARNING ALL OUTSIDE WATERS.
         STORM WARNING INSIDE 22...31...33...34...35.
         GALE WARNING 11...21...32...36...53.  SCA...12...13

JT/LN

Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Taiya Inlet and Klondike Highway

When: December 22, 12:00 AM AST to 8:00 AM AST
Where: Taiya Inlet and Klondike Highway forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5327678.