Alaska, 2004

Blizzard in Alaska, December 1, 2004

December 1, 2004 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Event continued from November. A low pressure center moved from Saint Lawrence Island to the Bering Strait while high pressure strengthened over the Arctic Ocean.

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.

Event continued from November. A low pressure center moved from Saint Lawrence Island to the Bering Strait while high pressure strengthened over the Arctic Ocean. This likely created blizzard conditions in zone 201 as indicated by Point Lay and Wainwright.

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 30, 2:30 PM AST, 9 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 30, 2:30 PM AST, 9 hours 30 minutes before
NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM AST TUE NOV 30 2004

.DISCUSSION...THE PROGS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN SHARPLY
DECELERATING THE 980 MB LOW BETWEEN PASA AND PATC...MOVING IT
VERY SLOWLY NORTH THROUGH THE BERING STRAIT...AND LIKELY STILL
IN THE 80S AT THIS TIME ON WED. PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL RELAX
OVER NORTHWEST ALASKA THOUGH...AS THE OCCLUDED FRONT CONTINUES
NORTH AND EAST. THE FRONT PRESENTLY LIES FROM ABOUT PALU-PAFM
AND DIFFUSE THROUGH PAIM AND PATA. PRETTY ROUGH CONDITIONS OVER
THE WESTERN ARCTIC SLOPE ALREADY TODAY...AND SATELLITE PIC SUGGEST
THAT THEY HAVENT EVEN SEEN ANY SNOW ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FRONT
YET...BUT RATHER JUST THE REMNANTS OF THE LAST ONE. THESE
CONSIDERATIONS HAVE PROMPTED THE ISSUANCE OF A WINTER STORM
WARNING FOR ZONE 201. EXPECT THE FRONT TO SHEAR OUT OVER THE
INTERIOR TONIGHT AND BE DIFFUSE OVER THE ARCTIC COAST AT 3PM WED.

THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE SURFACE LOW IS BECAUSE IT IS NOW UNDER
THE MAIN LOW ALOFT. THIS LOW ALOFT WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY
THROUGH THU...THEN MOVE EAST OVER NORTHWEST ALASKA FRI AND SAT.

THE LOW SOUTH OF COLD BAY WILL MOVE NORTHEAST...AFFECTING MAINLY
SOUTHCENTRAL AK...WITH MAYBE A BIT OF WEATHER FOR THE EXTREME
SOUTHEAST INTERIOR LATER WED OR WED NIGHT. A MUCH STRONGER LOW
(CENTER IN THE 70S) IS EXPECTED TO FOLLOW MUCH THE SAME TRACK
THU AND FRI...LIFTING OUT OVER THE SOUTHERN YUKON TERRITORY ON
FRI. THE FLOW ALOFT OVER NORTHERN ALASKA...WHICH HAS BEEN MAINLY
SOUTH OR SOUTHWEST FOR SO LONG...WILL SHIFT NORTHWEST FOLLOWING
THIS...INITIATING A CONSIDERABLY COLDER REGIME FOR THE WEEKEND.
TEMPERATURES WILL NOT LIKELY BE DRAMATICALLY BELOW NORMAL FOR
THIS TIME OF YEAR THOUGH.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WINTER STORM WARNING ZONES 201 AND 213.
         WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ZONES 202 AND 203.
MARINE...SCA/BWA AREAS 9B AND 10B.
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY AREAS 9B...10B

*** NOV 04

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast

When
December 1, 12:00 AM AST to 3:53 AM AST
Where
Western Arctic Coast 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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 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: 5432408.