Name: Heavy Snow in Alaska, April 2, 2004
Start: 2004-04-02T08:00
End: 2004-04-02T20:00
Location: Alaska

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 warm front moved north from the Alaska Range, producing localized heavy snow. On the Steese Highway from 12-mile Summit to Eagle Summit, strong winds with blowing snow and poor visibility were reported, along with a snow accumulation of up to 8 inches in one hour.

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 Apr 2, 6:00 AM AST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 2, 6:00 AM AST, 2 hours before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM AST FRI APR 2 2004

.DISCUSSION...

ALOFT...CLOSED UPPER LOW THAT BROUGHT TEMPERATURES AROUND 30
DEGREES BELOW AVERAGE OVER MOST OF THE STATE IS DROPPING TO THE
SOUTHWEST AND WILL TAKE UP RESIDENCE OVER BRISTOL BAY INTO THE
BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK.  A RIDGE WILL SLOWLY BUILD INTO THE
EASTERN PORTION OF THE STATE SETTING UP SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER MOST
OF THE STATE BY MID WEEK.

SURFACE...A 990 MB SURFACE LOW IS MOVING RAPIDLY NORTH THROUGH THE
GULF OF ALASKA AND WILL MEET UP WITH THE ALASKA RANGE LATER TODAY.
AS IT DOES SO...THE MAIN LOW WILL WEAKEN AND A LEE-SIDE LOW WILL
DEVELOP AND MOVE NORTH. EVEN THOUGH THIS SYSTEM WILL WEAKEN OVER
THE WEEKEND...IT WILL ALLOW FOR LIGHT SNOW OVER THE INTERIOR AND
UPSLOPE ARES OF THE BROOKS RANGE.  AS WE MOVE INTO NEXT WEEK...A
SURFACE LOW WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER LOW OVER THE CENTRAL
ALEUTIANS.  THIS WILL CONTINUE THE SOUTHERLY FLOW INTO NEXT WEEK.

WESTERN COAST...COLDEST AIR AND 850 TEMPS UNDER THE UPPER LOW
MOVING OVER THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE STATE WILL KEEP THE COOL
AIR LOCKED IN FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.  MOISTURE IS LIMITED SO ANY
PRECIPITATION UNDER THE UPPER LOW WOULD BE LIMITED TO FLURRIES.
TEMPERATURES WILL MODERATE AS THE UPPER LOW DIVES INTO THE GULF OF
ALASKA NEXT WEEK.

ARCTIC COAST...850 TEMPS REMAIN AROUND -20C THROUGH THE WEEKEND
BUT WILL MODERATE NEXT WEEK AS A GENERAL SOUTHERLY FLOW
ENCOMPASSES THE STATE.  THE REMNANTS OF THE ABOVE-MENTIONED
SURFACE LOW WILL SPREAD SNOW ALONG THE UPSLOPE AREAS AND ALONG THE
EASTERN BROOKS RANGE BY SATURDAY.

INTERIOR...LIGHT SNOW AS THE LEE-SIDE LOW DEVELOPS LATE FRIDAY
INTO EARLY SATURDAY SHOULD REMAIN AROUND AN INCH THROUGH SATURDAY.
AFTER THAT...THE FLOW FROM 850 MB AND ABOVE BECOMES SOUTHERLY.
THIS WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO CLIMB INTO THE 40S FOR A MAJORITY
OF NEXT WEEK.  WINDS MAY TURN MORE SOUTHEASTERLY AS WE MOVE INTO
MID WEEK...HOWEVER WARMING 850 TEMPS AND THE SPRING SUN WILL HELP
KEEP TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORY TONIGHT...ZONE 223 226
         WIND CHILL ADVISORY TONIGHT...ZONE 207 208 213
MARINE...BRISK WIND ADVISORY...9B 10B

AT APR 04

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Yukon Flats Nearby Uplands

When: April 2, 8:00 AM AST to 8:00 PM AST
Where: Yukon Flats Nearby Uplands forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, April 2004

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: 5387274.