Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, January 8, 2003

Name: Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, January 8, 2003
Start: 2003-01-08T03:35
End: 2003-01-08T16:24
Location: Alaska

January 8, 2003 · NWS AFG · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

A 957mb low and associated occluded front located over the Bering Sea moved rapidly northward creating blizzard conditions first around Cape Romanzof, then across the Seward and Baldwin Peninsulas. Visibility was reduced to near zero in blowing snow for several hours as wind gusts reached 59 mph at Cape Romanzof. As this storm system moved north the communities of Kotzebue, Selawik, and Buckland also experienced blizzard conditions as the visibilty at these locations dropped below 1/4 mile for several hours in blowing snow. In addition, this storm caused high winds up to 60mph at Unalakleet for a brief 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 Jan 7, 2:30 PM AST, 13 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 7, 2:30 PM AST, 13 hours 5 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM AST TUE JAN 7 2003

COLD AND MAINLY CLEAR WEATHER NOW AT ITS ZENITH OVER NORTHERN ALASKA
BEFORE A MORE BAROCLINICLY ACTIVE PATTERN TAKES HOLD BEGINNING
WEDNESDAY.

500MB TROUGH FROM 80N 150W TO NEAR FAIRBANKS AT 300 PM TUESDAY WILL
PROGRESS INTO NORTHWEST CANADA OVERNIGHT. IN ITS WAKE A 500MB RIDGE AXIS
WILL BUILD INTO ALASKA FROM THE SOUTH...AND BY 300 AM THURSDAY THE RIDGE
AXIS WILL EXTEND FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA TO PRUDHOE BAY. ON THE SOUTH SIDE
OF THIS RIDGE AXIS...SOUTHERLY STEERING FLOW ALOFT WILL ESCORT MILDER
TEMPERATURES INTO NORTHERN ALASKA AND WILL ALSO BRING POTENTIAL FOR
WINDS AND BLIZZARDS TO PORTIONS OF THE WEST COAST AND SOME TERRAIN
ENHANCED WINDS TO THE ALASKA RANGE.

IN THE MEDIUM RANAGE...MRF ECMWF AND UKMET ALL AGREE ON HOLDING THE
500MB RIDGE AXIS IN PLACE ALONG THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA ON
FRIDAY. THE MRF AND ECMWF SHOW A SMALL 500MB BUBBLE HIGH DEVELOPING
ALONG THE ALCAN BORDER. UPSHOT IS PERSISTENT SOUTHERLY 500MB FLOW ALONG
THE WEST COAST WHICH SHOULD KEEP TEMPERATURES OUT OF THE ICE BOX BUT
ALLOW FOR MORE STORMS TO MOVE OUT OF THE ALEUTIANS TOWARD THE BERING
STRAIT. INTERIOR WEATHER WILL BE QUIETER...BUT HIGH 500MB HEIGHTS AND
850-500MB THICKNESSES SHOULD PREVENT ANY WIDESPREAD COOLING. MAY BE A
GOOD SCENARIO FOR VERY STRONG VALLEY INVERSIONS IN THE INTERIOR.

WEST COAST...OCCLUSION ASSOCIATED WITH BERING SEA LOW WILL ADVANCE NORTH
TO A LINE FROM SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND TO THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF ZONE 214 BY
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. STRONG EAST WINDS WILL DEVELOP ON THE NORTH SIDE OF
THIS FRONT...ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE USUAL LOCATIONS WHERE TOPOGRAPHY
FAVORS THE DRAINAGE OF COLD AIR OUT OF THE INTERIOR. WINDS WILL DEVELOP
AHEAD OF ANY SNOWFALL. FOR NOW THE BEST BET FOR A BLIZZARD IS IN ZONE
214. WILL NOT UPGRADE BLIZZARD WATCH FOR ZONE 211 YET.

ARCTIC COAST...SLIGHT CHANCE FOR BLIZZARD ZONE 201 THURSDAY AS WEAKENING
OCCLUDED FRONT EXITS WEST COAST AND HEADS NORTH INTO THE ARCTIC OCEAN.
THERE WILL PROBABLY BE ENOUGH WIND IN ZONE 201 THURSDAY...BUT THE CHANCE
FOR MEANINGFUL PRECIPITATION DOES NOT LOOK PROMISING. FOR NOW WILL
MENTION WINDS AND LOCAL BLOWING SNOW BUT WILL NOT GO FOR A BLIZZARD
WATCH. ZONE 202 LOOKS TO BE TOO FAR EAST TO BE AFFECTED BY THIS PASSING
OCCLUSION.

INTERIOR...COLDEST TEMPERATURES OF THIS BRIEF COLD SNAP SHOULD BE
OCCURRING NOW OR OVERNIGHT. THEN THE MOUNTAIN WINDS BEGIN WEDNESDAY AND
TEMPERATURES MODERATE DRAMATICALLY. THE TANANA VALLEY JET LOOKS LIKE A
GOOD BET STARTING WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AS A RESPECTABLE SEA LEVEL
PRESSURE GRADIENT FORCE DEVELOPS BETWEEN HIGH PRESSURE OVER NORTHWEST
CANADA AND THE BERING SEA LOW. CHINOOK WINDS IN THE ALASKA RANGE ARE
LESS CERTAIN...BUT IT IS STILL WORTH A HIGH WIND WATCH FOR ZONE 225 AND
ZONE 226 WEST OF THE TOK CUTOFF. 700MB WINDS ARE PROGGED TO APPROACH
50 KTS OUT OF THE SOUTH WHICH SHOULD BE GOOD FOR MINIMAL WARNING GUSTS
IN ALASKA RANGE ZONES. THE GREAT WINTER FLOOD OF 2003 CONTINUES IN THE
PILEDRIVER SLOUGH NEIGHBORHOOD WITH NO CHANGE IN CONDITIONS OVER THE
PAST 24 HOURS...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES FORESEEN FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
.PBULIC...HIGH WIND WARNING ZONES 212 AND 223.
          HIGH WIND WATCH ZONES 213..225 AND 226.
          BLIZZARD WARNING ZONE 214.
          BLIZZARD WATCH ZONE 211.
          ICE JAM FLOOD WARNING ZONE 222.
.MARINE...GALE WARNING AREAS 14 AND 9B.
          HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING AREAS 14 AND 9B.
          BRISK WIND ADVISORY AREAS 9A AND 10AB.

ES JAN 03

Event by event

3 blizzard, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Yukon Delta

When: January 8, 3:35 AM AST to 2:55 PM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills

When: January 8, 7:35 AM AST
Where: Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: January 8, 12:24 PM AST to 4:24 PM AST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula

When: January 8, 12:35 PM AST to 3:15 PM AST
Where: Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

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.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, January 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: 5340128, 5340131, 5340129, 5340130.