Name: Avalanche in Alaska, February 6, 2003
Start: 2003-02-06T10:00
End: 2003-02-06T13:00
Location: Alaska

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 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 Feb 5, 9:00 PM AST, 13 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 9:00 PM AST, 13 hours before

SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
900 PM AST WED FEB 5 2003

.DISCUSSION...AVN MODEL OVERALL HANDLES SYNOPTIC SCALE FEATURES
BEST.

993MB LOW NEAR ST. MATTHEW ISLAND THIS EVENING IS STACKED WITH
UPPER CENTER AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO SLOWLY WEAKEN AND TRACK
NORTH. COLD FRONT EXTENDS SOUTHWEST ALONG THE KUSKOKWIM MOUNTAINS
TO WESTERN BRISTOL BAY. EXPECT COLD FRONT MAY MAKE SOME SLOW
HEADWAY EAST TONIGHT...BUT COLD AIR IS NOT DEEP ENOUGH TO SPILL
OVER THE AK RANGE INTO SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA. BOUNDARY EVENTUALLY
MOVES BACK NORTH/WEST AS NEXT LOW APPROACHES THE WESTERN AK PEN
FRI. EXPECT THIS CENTER TO BE IN THE MID 990S AS IT MOVES TO NEAR
UNIMAK PASS FRI AFTERNOON. AT THAT TIME...EXPECT OCCLUDED FRONT
TO EXTEND TO ALONG THE N BRISTOL BAY COAST...THEN SOUTHEAST TO
NEAR KODIAK. WARM FRONT EXTENDS FROM TRIPLE POINT INLAND BRISTOL
BAY TO THE CENTRAL INTERIOR.

IN THE SHORT RUN...REMNANTS OF WEAKENING OCCLUDED FRONT EXTENDING
THROUGH THE COPPER RIVER BASIN AND NORTH GULF COAST SHOULD
CONTINUE TO WEAKEN AND DRIFT EAST TONIGHT. TURNAGAIN ARM AND GAP
WINDS OVER SOUTHCENTRAL SHOULD SLACKEN SOME TONIGHT AS LOW NEAR
ST. MATTHEW ISLAND RETREATS NORTH. SNOW/SNOW SHOWERS WILL HOLD
THROUGH THU MORNING OVER SOUTHWEST ALASKA WITH MOISTURE SOUTHWEST
FLOW.

.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...GALES:

RMC FEB 03

Event by event

1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.

Avalanche, Susitna Valley

When: February 6, 10:00 AM AST to 1:00 PM AST
Where: Susitna Valley forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)

An avalanche shut down the Seward Highway between Anchorage and Girdwood Wednesday, causing power outages in several communities.The State DOT was doing avalanche control along the highway when the slide occurred near Bird Flat at about 11 am. The department had the road reopened several hours later.According to Chugach Electric, the avalanche caused structural damage to an electrical line. Power was knocked out to Girdwood, Indian, Bird and Hope. Also, the Whittier Tunnel was closed temporarily because of the power outage.

What these are

Avalanche: A mass of snow sliding down a mountainside that caused a death, an injury or damage.

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, February 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: 5339851.