Ice Storm in Alaska, November 1 to 2, 2003

Name: Ice Storm in Alaska, November 1 to 2, 2003
Start: 2003-11-01T23:00
End: 2003-11-02T15:00
Location: Alaska

November 1 to 2, 2003 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A weakening weather front moving northeast over the interior of Alaska brought freezing rain to the central interior and Fairbanks area. 15 inches of rain as well.

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 weakening weather front moving northeast over the interior of Alaska brought freezing rain to the central interior and Fairbanks area. Nenana ASOS reported 0.15 inches of rain; the Fairbanks National Weather Service site reported 0.15 inches of rain as well. Roads in and close to the city of Fairbanks were well treated by City and State road crews, however, roads in the hills surrounding Fairbanks were very slippery.

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 Nov 1, 2:30 PM AST, 8 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 1, 2:30 PM AST, 8 hours 30 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM AST SAT NOV 1 2003

.DISCUSSION...SUMMER-LIKE LONG-WAVE UPPER-RIDGE REMAINS ANCHORED
OVER AK, EXTENDING SSE FROM 80-85N/DATELINE TO CLOSED 586DM CENTER
AROUND 45-50N/145-150W. MODELS IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT THROUGH
48 HRS, BUT UKMET AND 18Z ETA SHOWING UPPER RIDGE RETROGRADING
MORE OVER W COAST IN 48-72 HR PERIOD, WHILE GFS HOLDS CURRENT
POSITION. EITHER WAY, SYSTEMS WILL BE CONFINED MAINLY TO W COAST
AND WRN N SLOPE AFTER FIRST ONE TONIGHT/MON.

DISSIPATING OCCLUDED FRONTAL SYSTEM WITH WEAK 1010MB OR SO LOW
CENTER CURRENTLY NEAR SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND WILL MOVE THROUGH
THE RIDGE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. THE RIDGE IS FORECAST TO RE-BOUND
AND FORCE BERING SYSTEMS N ALONG THE W COAST MON AND TUE. A
STRONGER SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO FLATTEN THE RIDGE WED AND BRING
MORE ENERGY/MOISTURE OVER THE INTERIOR THEN.

N SLOPE: DISSIPATING SYSTEM WILL BRING SOME -SN TONIGHT AND
SUN AS FAR E AS PABR (AND POSSIBLY -FZRA), JUST CLOUDS AND
FLURRIES FURTHER EAST. THEREAFTER, AS UPPER-RIDGE RE-BOUNDS,
PRECIP. TO BE CONFINED TO WRN ARCTIC COAST. CLOUDS, FOG, AND
FLURRIES REST OF THE AREA INTO NEXT WEEK WITH ABOVE AVERAGE
TEMPS.

W COAST: RAIN MOVING N TONIGHT WITH WEAKENING SYSTEM, SOME
-SN OR -FZRA POSSIBLE ZONES 208/217. FRONTAL BAND STEMMING
FROM DEEPER LOW CENTER MOVING N OVER CENTRAL ALEUTIANS WILL
MOVE N ALONG COAST AND WEAKEN SUN NIGHT/MON AS IT MOVES INTO
RE-BOUNDING UPPER RIDGE, NOT EXPECTING AS MUCH INLAND PENETRATION
OF RAIN WITH THIS.

INTERIOR: WEAKENING FRONTAL BAND WILL BRING SOME -RA AND -FZRA
TONIGHT AND SUN. WILL UPGRADE WATCH FOR -FZRA ZONES 221 AND 225
TO WARNING FOR TONIGHT, BUT KEEP WATCH GOING FOR ZONES 219/220
SUNDAY. ONLY PLACE WITH ENOUGH COLD AIR FOR SNOW WILL BE SOUTHERN
SLOPES BROOKS RANGE TONIGHT/SUN. WILL HAVE -FZRA ADVISORY FOR
REST OF INTERIOR ZONES SUN WITH LIGHTER AMOUNTS EXPECTED. SHOULD
SEE DRIER WEATHER MON/TUE AS UPPER-RIDGE SHARPENS AND RE-BUILDS,
WITH WELL ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPS.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...
MARINE...

MAR NOV 03

Event by event

2 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Wrn Tanana Vly Wrn Yukon Vly

When: November 1, 11:00 PM AST to November 2, 8:08 AM AST
Where: Wrn Tanana Vly Wrn Yukon Vly forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Ice Storm, Middle Tanana Valley

When: November 2, 1:10 AM AST to 3:00 PM AST
Where: Middle Tanana Valley forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

What these are

Ice Storm: Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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, November 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: 5335276, 5335275.