Blizzard in Alaska, March 31, 2003

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, March 31, 2003
Start: 2003-03-31T08:55
End: 2003-03-31T14:15
Location: Alaska

March 31, 2003 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A 984mb low and associated occluded front moved across the Bering Sea producing strong winds and widespread snow across St. Lawrence Island and portions of the Yukon Delta.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 984mb low and associated occluded front moved across the Bering Sea producing strong winds and widespread snow across St. Lawrence Island and portions of the Yukon Delta. Wind speeds topped out at 55 mph at Emmonak and Cape Romanzof dropping the visibility at these locations to near zero for several hours in blowing snow. The AWOS sensor at Savoonga also reported blizzard conditions with the winds topping out there at 52 mph.

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 31, 4:00 AM AST, 4 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 4:00 AM AST, 4 hours 55 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
400 AM AST MON MAR 31 2003

AT UPPER LEVELS, A RIDGE EXTENDING SOUTH TO NORTH OVER THE NORTHERN
BERING SEA WILL DRIFT EAST THIS WEEK. AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE,
OVER EASTERN RUSSIA, ALONG THE WESTERN PERIMETER OF THE RIDGE, WILL
REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY. A SECOND UPPER LEVEL LOW, OVER THE NORTHERN
GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST OF JUNEAU TUE.

AT THE SURFACE, A WARM FRONT MOVING NORTH OVER THE NORTHERN BERING
SEA HAS MOVED NORTH OF SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND. DUE TO WARMER TEMPERATURES
BEHIND THE FRONT, FREEZING SPRAY SHOULD END ENTIRELY BY EVENING OVER
THE SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND WATERS. THE FRONT WILL MOVE NORTH OF SAINT
LAWRENCE ISLAND THIS AFTERNOON AND TO BERING STRAIT TO NORTON SOUND
TONIGHT.

THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY WILL REMAIN OPEN FOR ANOTHER FRONTAL SYSTEM
OVER THE NORTHERN BERING SEA THROUGH FRI. THIS IS DUE, IN PART, TO THE
SLOW EASTWARD MOVEMENT OF THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE. THE MOST LIKELY DAY
FOR THE NEXT FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL BE THU.

A SURFACE LOW OVER THE NORTHERN GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE EAST AND
DIMINISH TODAY AND TONIGHT. AS IT DOES, A LITTLE LINGERING SNOW OVER
EAGLE SHOULD END TODAY.

COLD AIR ALOFT IS EVIDENT AT EAGLE SUMMIT, LITTLE CHENA RIDGE, AND
MUNSON RIDGE. SO FAR, OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN -7, -6, AND -10,
RESPECTIVLY. AND AT VALLEY LEVEL, TEMPERATURES HAVE FALLEN TO THE 20S
BELOW ZERO. AT NEW LAKE, THE LOW SO FAR HAS BEEN 22 BELOW.

OVER THE EASTERN ARCTIC COAST, WINDS REMAIN A LITTLE BRISK IN THE
EASTERLY FLOW AROUND HIGH PRESSURE. MODELS SHOW A CONTINUATION OF
BRISK WINDS OVER MARINE AREA 11B TODAY. HOWEVER, RIDGING FROM THE
HIGH TO THE INTERIOR COULD CUT OFF THAT FLOW.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY

.PUBLIC...NONE.

.MARINE...
HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING AREA 14, SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND WATERS.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY AREA 14, SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND WATERS.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
    AREA 9B, DALL POINT TO WALES INCLUDING THE SAINT LAWRENCE
        ISLAND WATERS.
    AREA 10A, KOTZEBUE SOUND.
    AREA 10B, WALES TO CAPE LISBURNE.
    AREA 11B, CAPE HALKETT TO DEMARCATION POINT.

DA MAR 03

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Yukon Delta

When: March 31, 8:55 AM AST to 12:55 PM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: March 31, 11:15 AM AST to 2:15 PM AST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait 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: 5347224, 5347223.