1 blizzard, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Mar 13, 10:00 AM AST, 7 hours earlier.
SOUTH/SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
10 AM AST THU MAR 13 2003
...OCCASIONAL PHONE OUTAGES ARE CAUSING NUMEROUS DATA PROBLEMS
FOR NWS ANCHORAGE THIS MORNING...
...FORECAST UPDATES ARE BEGINNING TO APPEAR ON THE INTERNET...
ANALYSIS...THE MAJOR UPPER LOW THAT WAS OVER THE NORTHWEST
CANADIAN ARCTIC WAS CENTERED OVER PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND THIS 12Z
MORNING. THE MONDO UPPER HIGH CENTER HAS ALSO MOVED INTO THE
BERING SEA SOUTH OF ANADYR. THE NORTHERLY JET AXIS IS NOW ALONG
167W AROUND 110 KNOTS AT 250 MB 12Z. A STRONG SURFACE LOW IN THE
950S MOVED INTO THE EASTERN GULF OFF SITKA THIS MORNING. GOES
IMAGERY REVEALS AN IMPORTANT SECONDARY LOW CENTER NEAR 57/145W AT
18Z AMD A THIRD LOW NEAR 57/149W. HOPEFULLY THERE WILL BE TIME
AND ENOUGH DATA FOR AN 18Z HAND ANALYSIS BEFORE NOON. THE ARCTIC
AIR OVER ALASKA IS INCREDIBLY DRY AND THE COLD AIR IS DEEP FOR NO
WARM MIXING AVAILABLE. SOME CLOUDS MADE IT OVER SOUTH CENTRAL
THIS MORNING ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER LOW AND ALL OF THE BLOWING
DUST. RADAR IS SHOWING ENHANCED CLOUD STREETS NEAR MIDDLETON
ISLAND AND ALSO IN LOWER COOK INLET.
FORECASTS...WELL, THE UKMET AND ECMWF WERE NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL
TWO DAYS AGO. ALL MODELS REVIEWED SHOW THAT THE MAIN UPPER LOW
CENTER MOVES TO 51/152W SOUTH OF KODIAK ISLAND BY 12Z FRIDAY
WHICH SETS UP ONSHORE FLOW ALOFT OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AND MOVES THE
JET CORE FURTHER SOUTH OVER THE ALASKA PENINSULA. WITH LOTS OF
COLD ADVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH THIS JET A SERIES OF STRONG
SURFACE LOWS MOVE THROUGH THE GULF OF ALASKA ALL THE WAY THROUGH
TUESDAY. STRONG SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS OVER THE CENTRAL AND
EASTERN PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA FINALLY RELAX ON SUNDAY TO
JUST AVERAGE WINDY CONDITIONS FROM THE COLD STRONG BLOW THAT WEVE
BEEN HAVING. THE TRICKY PART OF THIS FORECAST IS WHERE AND WHEN
TO BRING IN ANY PRECIPITATION IN THE UPPER LEVEL ONSHORE FLOW.
THE BEST IDEA SO FAR IS TO CONFINE SNOW TO MONTAGUE ISLAND,
KODIAK ISLAND AND CORDOVA STARTING FRIDAY OR SO. WEVE GOTTA KEEP
LOTS OF SURFACE WIND AND DRY CONDITIONS IN THE OTHER FORECASTS
THROUGH FRIDAY AND WE WILL DECIDE LATER ON HOW MUCH WIND AND
DRYING WILL CONTINUE ON SATURDAY.
.AFC...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 111 135.
WIND ADVSRY 101 125 145 131 141 161 185 195.
WIND CHILL ADVSRY 141 161.
MARINE...STORM 2B 2C 5B.
GALES 2C4 3ABC 4 4A1 5A 6AB 8 12A 15.
HVY FRZ SPRAY 2B 2C 2C1 2C4 3ABC 4 8 15.
FIRE...RED FLAG WARNING CONTINUES 101 111 121 145.
JC MAR 031 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard conditions were observed around Cold Bay Thursday evening. North winds reached 54 mph...and visibilities were frequently below 1/4 mile in blowing snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 2003
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: 5340796.