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 Apr 2, 5:00 AM AST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 AM AST FRI APR 2 2004
.DISCUSSION...
LOW APPROACHING THE BARREN ISLANDS THIS MORNING WITH WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORY CONDITIONS OVER KODIAK AND ABUNDANT RAIN AND SNOW HEADING
INTO THE NORTH GULF COAST. GRADUALLY LOWERING CLOUDS WRAPPING AROUND
SYSTEM EXTENDING ACROSS ALASKA AND ALEUTIAN RANGE. RIDGE PERSISTS
OVER THE BERING...AND GALE FORCE WINDS ARE ACCOMPANYING A FRONT
GETTING READY TO STALL NEAR THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS.
GFS AND ETA ARE COMING TOGETHER IN BRINGING THE LOW ACROSS THE
WESTERN KENAI AND THEN UP THE SUSITNA THROUGH SATURDAY. 1000-850 MB
THICKNESS SHOWS KODIAK TO BE GETTING A MIX LATER TODAY BEFORE
SWITCHING BACK TO SNOW SHOWERS TONIGHT. OTHERWISE EVERYTHING WEST OF
150W WILL STAY FROZEN...AND EAST OF 150 WILL BE RAIN THROUGH FRIDAY
NIGHT...EXCEPT FOR VALDEZ. THINGS WILL TAPER OFF SATURDAY NIGHT
BEFORE THE NEXT LOW PUSHES INTO KODIAK. THE NEXT ASSOCIATED FRONT
WILL BRING WIND AND SNOW TO THE COAST SUNDAY.
MEANWHILE IN THE WEST...THE FRONT DISSIPATES INTO A ZONAL TROUGH
TODAY AND WINDS GRADUALLY DIMINISH. THE NEXT FRONT BRINGS GALES TO
THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS SATURDAY AND THEN BECOMES A ZONAL TROUGH LATER
ON SUNDAY.
IN THE EXTENDED...THE UPPER TROUGH THAT IS ROUGHLY OVER KODIAK
RETROGRADES TO THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS BY MONDAY. THIS ALTERS THE TRACK
OF THE LOWS SO THE NEXT ONE CROSSES CHIGNIK ON ITS WAY INTO THE
EASTERN BERING TUESDAY. THE SUBSEQUENT LOW LOOKS TO BE TAKING AIM AT
DUTCH HARBOR BY THE END OF THE WEEK. THE EFFECT IS THAT WARMING
OCCURS IN THE EAST AND THAT THE NORTH GULF COAST WILL SEE PERIODS OF
ONSHORE FLOW AND PRECIPITATION NEXT WEEK...INLAND AREAS WILL HAVE
SOME SHOWERS AS WILL THE WEST WITH PERSISTENT NORTH FLOW.
.ALU/AER...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE
MARINE...GALES 2B 3A 3B 3C 4 5A 13A 13B
HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 4 5B 6A 6B 14 15
FIRE WEATHER...NONE
DS APR 041 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
A 983 MB south of Seward caused strong winds through Thompson Pass gusting to 35 mph as reported by the Alaska DOT at Thompson Pass. Visibility was reduced to near zero at times in white-out conditions. Snow also fell at an inch per hour during the morning hours. Visibility in Valdez was reduced to 1/4 mile with east winds peaking at 22 mph. No damage was reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, April 2004
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: 5387268.