Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, December 24 to 26, 2004

Name: Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, December 24 to 26, 2004
Start: 2004-12-24T19:55
End: 2004-12-26T01:36
Location: Alaska

December 24 to 26, 2004 · NWS AFG · 13 events in 8 counties and zones

Zone 213 - likely at Tin City AWOS. At nearby Wales, a 29 YOM is presumed to have perished overnight on the 24th while he was returning to his home at the edge of the village.

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 13

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.

With strong high pressure of 1049 mb covering the interior of Alaska, an occluded weather front moved north over the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea on the night of the 24th through the 25th.Blizzard conditions observed at:Zone 206 - likely at Anaktuvuk Pass AWOS.Zone 207 - likley at Point Hope AWOS; Kivalina ASOS.Zone 208 - likely at NoatakAWOS.Zone 209 - Kotzebue.Zone 210 - likely at Buckland AWOS.Zone 211 - Nome, likely at Golovin AWOS.Zone 213 - likely at Tin City AWOS. At nearby Wales, a 29 YOM is presumed to have perished overnight on the 24th while he was returning to his home at the edge of the village. It is presumed he became disoriented, and ended up walking away from his home and village, to eventually die of hypothermia. High Winds were reported at:Zone 207: Point Hope AWOS peak gust 57 knots (66 mph); Kivalina ASOS peak gust 52 knots (60 mph).Zone 209: Kotzebue ASOS peak gust 52 knots (60 mph).Zone 210: Deering ASOS peak gust 53 knots (62 mph).Zone 213: Tin City AWOS peak gust 57 knots (66 mph).Zone 214: Cape Romanzof AWOS peak gust 56 knots (64 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 Dec 24, 3:30 PM AST, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 24, 3:30 PM AST, 4 hours 25 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
330 PM AST FRI DEC 24 2004

CORRECTED WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORY SUMMARY

.DISCUSSION...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE RUNS OF GFS/UKMET/UKMO MODELS HAVE
SIMILAR FORECASTS OF THE 500 MB HEIGHT FIELD THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY.
A HIGH SPEED PROGRESSIVE UPPER AIR PATTERN WILL CONTINUE.
THE DEEP COLD TROUGH OVER THE CENTRAL PORTIONS OF NORTHERN ALASKA WILL
DAMPEN OUT AND MOVE INTO NORTHWEST CANADA BY 12Z SATURDAY...
BEING REPLACED BY AN UPPER RIDGE. BY 12Z SUNDAY,..THIS RIDGE WILL
REACH NORTHWEST CANADA WITH DIMINISHING AMPLITUDE BY 12Z SUNDAY...AS
ANOTHER SHORT WAVE TROUGH EMBEDDED IN A WEST SOUTHWESTERLY
FLOW SWEEPS EASTWARD ACROSS NORTHERN ALASKA.

VERY STRONG SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS EXIST ALONG THE ALASKA RANGE
THIS MORNING...CREATING LOCALLY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS AND BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS IN ALASKA RANGE PASSES. NORTH WINDS GUSTING TO 45 MPH
WITH 1/4 MILE VISIBILITY ARE BEING REPORTED AT CANTWELL. WITH
A 22 MB PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN BIG DELTA AND GULKANA...WINDS
IN THE ISABEL PASS AND SUMMIT LAKE AREAS ARE LIKELY GUSTING IN
EXCESS OF 60 MPH PRODUCING ZERO-ZERO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. TRIMS CAMP
IS REPORTING GUSTS TO 55 MPH. WINDS WILL DIMINISH TONIGHT AS A
STRONG SURFACE HIGH BUILDS EASTWARD INTO THE INTERIOR.

AN EASTWARD MOVING FRONT OVER THE BERING SEA WILL PRODUCE ANOTHER
ROUND OF WINTER STORM CONDITIONS OVER THE WEST COAST...NORTHWEST
INTERIOR...AND BROOKS RANGE. WITH PLENTY OF VERY COLD AIR IN
PLACE OVER THE INTERIOR AND A VERY STRONG NORTH-SOUTH ISOBAR GRADIENT
SETTING UP...CONDITIONS WILL BE OPTIMUM FOR SEVERE BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS IN AREAS PRONE TO STRONG WINDS...SUCH AS THE UNALAKLEET
AREA...KOTZEBUE AREA...AREAS NEAR CAPE LISBURNE...PORTIONS OF THE
UPPER NOATAK VALLEY...THE BERING STRAIT...AND AREAS IN ZONE 214 FROM
SCAMMON BAY SOUTH. WINDS GUSTING TO 60 MPH OR HIGHER WILL LIKELY OCCUR
IN ALL OF THESE AREAS.

AS THE FRONT AND SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVE EASTWARD...SNOW WILL SPREAD
EASTWARD OVER ALMOST ALL SECTIONS OF THE INTERIOR AND BROOKS RANGE.
HEAVY SNOW AMOUNTS MAY BE POSSIBLE IN ZONES 217-218.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...
   WINTER STORM WARNING...ZONES 201-205-207-208-209-210-211-213-214-225-226
   WINTER STORM WATCH...ZONES 205-212-216-217-218
   WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...ZONE 224
   WIND CHILL ADVISORY...ZONES 203-204-208-209-223
   WIND ADVISORY...ZONE 206
MARINE...
   STORM WARNING...AREA 9B
   GALE WARNING...AREAS 9A-10A-10B-11A
   BRISK WIND ADVISORY...11B

RF DEC 04

Event by event

8 blizzard, 5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Yukon Delta

When: December 24, 7:55 PM AST to 10:55 PM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: December 24, 10:55 PM AST to December 25, 1:55 AM AST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Measured: 57 kt (66 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Yukon Delta

When: December 24, 10:55 PM AST to December 25, 1:55 AM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: December 24, 11:55 PM AST to December 25, 6:24 PM AST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: December 24, 11:55 PM AST to December 25, 12:55 PM AST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: December 25, 12:36 AM AST to 4:36 PM AST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Measured: 57 kt (66 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Srn Seward Peninsula Coast

When: December 25, 12:53 AM AST to 2:01 PM AST
Where: Srn Seward Peninsula Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: December 25, 3:16 AM AST to 5:53 PM AST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R

When: December 25, 7:56 AM AST to 8:36 PM AST
Where: N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Lower Kobuk & Noatak Valleys

When: December 25, 10:36 AM AST to December 26, 1:36 AM AST
Where: Lower Kobuk & Noatak Valleys forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula

When: December 25, 10:36 AM AST to 1:36 PM AST
Where: Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula

When: December 25, 1:44 PM AST to 2:44 PM AST
Where: Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: December 25, 11:30 PM AST to December 26, 12:30 AM AST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait	2004-12-25	29	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5432517, 5432523, 5432524, 5432514, 5432516, 5432513, 5432515, 5432512, 5432522, 5432518, 5432520, 5432521, 5432519.