Blizzard in Alaska, March 10 to 11, 2003

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, March 10 to 11, 2003
Start: 2003-03-10T10:35
End: 2003-03-11T16:35
Location: Alaska

March 10 to 11, 2003 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A Cold Front moved east across the Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast causing blizzard conditions, along with strong winds. Wind gusts up to 54 mph were reported by the Barter Island AWOS.

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.

A Cold Front moved east across the Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast causing blizzard conditions, along with strong winds. Wind gusts up to 54 mph were reported by the Barter Island AWOS. Blizzard conditions were not continuous but subsided at times during the event.

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 Mar 10, 4:00 AM AST, 6 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 10, 4:00 AM AST, 6 hours 35 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
400 AM AST MON MAR 10 2003

THE 1008 MB LOW NEAR 80N 150W WILL CONTINUE TO DEEPEN AS IT DROPS
SOUTHEAST...PASSING NOT FAR FROM BANKS ISLAND IN THE CANADIAN
ARCHEPELAGO AROUND 3AM TUES. THE COLD FRONT IS POORLY DEFINED IN
THE SURFACE DATA...AND EVEN ON SATELLITE PICS DUE TO THE VERY LIMITED
CLOUD COVER ASSOCAITED WITH IT. WE SUPPOSE IT TO BE JUST OFF THE
NORTHWEST ARCTIC COAST AT THIS TIME. IT WILL MOVE PRETTY RAPIDLY
SOUTHEAST TODAY TO CROSS THE BROOKS RANGE AROUND 300 PM THIS
AFTERNOON AND REACH THE ALASKA RANGE LATE TONIGHT. DESPITE ITS
UNIMPRESSIVE APPEARANCE...ALL MODELS REMAIN DISGUSTINGLY CONSISTENT
IN MOVING A MUCH COLDER AIRMASS SOUTHWARD BEHIND IT. THE STRONGEST
COLD ADVECTION IN THE SHORT TERM IS SEEN OVER THE EASTERN ARCTIC AND
EASTERN INTERIOR...BUT ALL NORTHERN ALASKA ZONES ARE IN FOR IT...
THOUGH HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY OVER MOST OF THE WEST COAST AND
THE SOUTHERN INTERIOR WILL NOT BE MUCH LOWER THAN SUNDAY.

THE PRONOUNCED COLD ADVECTION AND HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING SOUTHWARD
AND EASTWARD BEHIND THE FRONT WILL PROVIDE THE USUAL STRONG WINDS
IN CHANNELED AREAS. THE BLIZZARD EARLIER FORECAST FOR ZONES 203-04
STILL LOOKS GOOD AS A GROUND BLIZZARD. THERE WILL BE LITTLE OR NO
ACTUAL SNOWFALL.

WE WILL BE ISSUING WIND ADVISORIES IN MANY OF THE REST OF THE AREAS
FROM THE BROOKS RANGE SOUTH THAT ARE PRONE TO STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING ZONES 203 AND 204
MARINE...GALE WARNING AREA 11B
         SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY AND HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING AREA 14
         BRISK WIND ADVISORY DEVELOPING TODAY AREA 10B
         BRISK WIND ADVISORY DEVELOPING TONIGHT AREAS 10A...9B

DJH MAR 03

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast

When: March 10, 10:35 AM AST to March 11, 4:35 PM AST
Where: Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast 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.

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, March 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: 5347214.