Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- February 8, 10:55 AM AST to 6:55 PM AST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Blizzard in Alaska, February 8, 2003
Snow and strong winds developed along the Bering Sea Coast in response to a low pressure center over Western Norton Sound and a 1036mb high pressure center over Eastern Siberia. The resulted gradient between these two systems was sufficient enough to produce wind gusts up to 50 mph at Tin City.
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 AFG wrote it up.
Snow and strong winds developed along the Bering Sea Coast in response to a low pressure center over Western Norton Sound and a 1036mb high pressure center over Eastern Siberia. The resulted gradient between these two systems was sufficient enough to produce wind gusts up to 50 mph at Tin City. These strong winds, combined with the snowfall around the surface low, resulted in a visibility reduction at TIn City to less that 1/4 mile for an extended period.
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 Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 8, 4:00 AM AST, 6 hours 55 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 8, 4:00 AM AST, 6 hours 55 minutes before
NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION 400 AM AST SAT FEB 8 2003 THE WEATHER OVER NORTHERN ALASKA CONTINUES TO BE DOMINATED BY A VERY STRONG HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE EXTENDING NW-WARD FROM THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA OVER THE EASTERN 1/2 OF THE STATE AND LOW PRESSURE TROFING OVER THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN BERING SEA. BETWEEN THESE TWO FEATURES A BROAD S-LY TO SW-LY FLOW CONTINUES TO PREVAIL OVER MOST OF THE STATE. ALL MODELS ARE IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE IDEA THAT THIS BASIC PATTERN WILL REMAIN THROUGH AT LEAST THE NEXT 5 DAYS ALTHOUGH SOME COOLING IS POSSIBLE FROM THE BROOKS RANGE NORTHWARD STARTING ON MONDAY. THIS IS DUE TO THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE BEING FLATTENED SOMEWHAT BY A TROF OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING E-WARD OVER THE ARCTIC ZONES. A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE CENTERS EMBEDDED IN THIS S-LY TO SW-LY ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE NE-WARD FROM BRISTOL BAY OVER THE WEST COAST ZONES OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THESE LOW CENTERS WILL BRING REINFORCING SHOTS OVER VERY WARM AIR OVER MOST OF THE STATE SOUTH OF THE BROOKS RANGE ALONG WITH THE THREAT OF MORE PRECIP FROM FAIRBANKS W-WARD. THIS INCLUDES THE THREAT OF FREEZING RAIN AS WELL AS SNOW. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SIGNIFICANT FREEZING RAIN EXISTS OVER THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN INTERIOR ALTHOUGH IT COULD OCCUR ELSEWHERE OVER THE WEST COAST ZONES OR EVEN AS FAR EAST AS FAIRBANKS. STRONG WINDS THROUGH ALASKA RANGE PASSES ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH TODAY BEFORE DIMINISHING TONIGHT AS THE STEERING FLOW BECOMES MORE W-LY. THE ARCTIC ZONES ARE EXPECTED TO SEE MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH SOME LIGHT SNOW AND MODERATE E-LY WINDS THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK DUE TO THE INTERACTION OF LOW PRESSURE OVER INTERIOR ALASKA AND STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE HIGH ARCTIC. THE ONLY REAL STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE CONFINED TO ZONE 213 WHERE STRONG N-LY WINDS WILL PRODUCE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TODAY AND TONIGHT BEFORE DIMINISHING SUNDAY AS THE LOW CENTER GENERATING THESE WINDS SHIFTS TO THE EAST. IT APPEARS THAT TEMPS MAY BEGIN A SLOW FALL TOWARD MORE NORMAL LEVELS WED THROUGH FRI OF NEXT WEEK AS BOTH THE MRF AND ECMWF FLATTEN THE RIDGE SE-WARD AND HEIGHTS LOWER. THE ECMWF SEEMS THE MOST AGGRESSIVE IN THIS IDEA. .AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY .PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING 213 TODAY/TONIGHT. HIGH WIND WARNING 225-226 TODAY. FREEZING RAIN WARNING 221. .MARINE...HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING 14 TODAY/TONIGHT. BRISK WIND/SMALL CRAFT ADVY 14, 9B, 10B, 11A, AND 11B TODAY/TONIGHT. MP FEB 03
Event by event
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, February 8, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 8, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 8, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 8, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 8, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 8, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Wyoming, February 8, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 8, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Wyoming, February 8, 2003
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5340688.