Name: Blizzard in Alaska, December 24 to 26, 2003
Start: 2003-12-24T23:53
End: 2003-12-26T07:00
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Low pressure in the northern Gulf of Alaska combined with a deep cold air mass and high pressure in the interior resulted in gusty offshore wind along the north gulf coast region. Data is very sparse across this region, however, examination of satellite data in conjunction with limited observation results in a reasonable assessment that blizzard conditions were very likely occurring in the Portage Pass and Portage Valley area as well as across channeled terrain like Thompson Pass near Valdez. Wind reports from Thompson Pass of 30 to 40 mph following over 3 feet of recent snowfall very likely produced blizzard conditions at the top of the pass as well as along the corridor down into the city of Valdez.

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 24, 9:00 PM AST, 2 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 24, 9:00 PM AST, 2 hours 53 minutes before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
900 PM AST WED DEC 24 2003

.DISCUSSION...FORECASTS LOOK TO BE ON TRACK. WINDS COMING UP ALONG
WESTERN AND NORTHERN GULF AREAS. ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO TIMING.
SNOWING IN PAGK AND SHORT WAVE MOVING THROUGH THAT AREA. WILL HAVE TO
WATCH FOR MORE SNOW THAN IN THAT FORECAST OVER NEXT FEW HOURS. SNOW
SHOWERS ALSO IN PASN. ACCUMULATIONS ADDED TO THAT ZONE. NEW ETA MODEL
HAS WEAKER GRADIENT OVER NORTH GULF COAST AND JUST A TAD WARMER. NOT
GOING TO BITE ON THE CHANGE WITH WINDS ALREADY DEVELOPING SO WILL
KEEP BLIZZARD WARNING ON TRACK FOR LATER TONIGHT.

PRETTY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETA AND AVN 850 TEMP FORECASTS.
EITHER ONE WILL BE WINDY OVER SOUTH CENTRAL JUST THE LOCATION MAY
SHIFT. BIG DIFFERENCE IN SURFACE PATTER OVER BERING AT 36 HRS. AVN
959 VS ETA 972 CENTERS AND ABOUT 300 NM APART. FROM WHAT DAY LEAD
SAID THE ETA IS FALLING MORE IN LINE WITH UKMET.  OVER TIME THE
ETA/AVN CONVERGE AT LEAST ON PLACEMENT OF LOW OVER EASTERN RUSSIA AT
60 HRS.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING ZONES 125 AND 131.
MARINE...HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY AREAS 2B 2B1 2C 2C4 3A 3B 3C 4 4A 5A 8.
         GALES AREAS 2B 2C 2C4 3A 3B 3C 12A 12B 13.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

KAC DEC 03

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns

When: December 24, 11:53 PM AST to December 26, 7:00 AM AST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

Blizzard, Nern P.W. Snd

When: December 25, 4:00 PM AST to 6:00 PM AST
Where: Nern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

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

More

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: 5336618, 5336617.