Alaska, 2004

Blizzard in Alaska, December 27 to 29, 2004

December 27 to 29, 2004 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Strong and cold high pressure moved into the interior of Alaska on the 27th and 28th, creating strong north winds through Alaska Range passes, resulting in blizzard conditions on the 27th and 28th. The State of Alaska Department of Transportation reported very difficult driving conditions on the Richardson Highway in the section through zone 226, citing blowing and drifting snow.

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.

Strong and cold high pressure moved into the interior of Alaska on the 27th and 28th, creating strong north winds through Alaska Range passes, resulting in blizzard conditions on the 27th and 28th. The State of Alaska Department of Transportation reported very difficult driving conditions on the Richardson Highway in the section through zone 226, citing blowing and drifting snow.

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 27, 6:00 AM AST, 6 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 27, 6:00 AM AST, 6 hours before
NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM AST MON DEC 27 2004

.DISCUSSION...ON THE BROAD SCALE...500MB FLOW OVER NORTHERN
ALASKA POISED TO MAKE TRANSITION FROM QUASI-ZONAL HIGH-SPEED
ORIENTATION TO A LESS-PROGRESSIVE MERIDIONAL PATTERN. ALL MODELS
(GFS ETA ECMWF UKMET) AGREE ON BASIC IDEA OF BUILDING A 500MB
RIDGE ALONG ALASKAS WEST COAST BY TUE AFTERNOON. RIDGE AXIS THEN
PROGGED TO DRIFT SLOWLY EAST OVER MAINLAND ALASKA BY END OF THE
WEEK. GIVEN THE GOOD AGREEMENT BETWEEN ALL MODELS...WILL GO WITH
THIS IDEA.

ARCTIC COAST...BLIZZARD NOW FINISHED IN ZONES 203 AND 204 AS LOW
RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS EVENT HAS LONG SINCE EXITED TO THE EAST AS
ESCORTED BY HIGH-SPEED ZONAL FLOW ALOFT. ZONE 201 LIKELY TO BE
IN THE SHOOTING GALLERY FROM WEDNESDAY ON INTO THE WEEKEND AS
A COUPLE OF OCCLUSIONS DRIFT IN FROM THE BERING SEA AND BRING
A CHANCE FOR SNOW AND GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS. TOO EARLY NOW FOR
ANY WATCHES...BUT WILL KEEP OUR EYES ON THIS. BARROW LOOKS TO BE
TOO FAR EAST TO BE SERIOUSLY AFFECTED BY THESE OCCLUSIONS...GIVEN
THE MERIDIONAL 500MB FLOW OFFERS LITTLE MECHANISM TO PUSH THE
OCCLUSIONS EASTWARD.

WEST COAST...ONLY SIGNIFICANT ISSUE TODAY IS SOME DENSE FOG
ADVISORIES WHICH SHOULD EXPIRE BY MID DAY. LIGHT WIND REGIME
WILL GIVE WAY TO MODERATE WESTERLY WINDS BY NOON WHICH SHOULD
MIX OUT THE FOG. THE NEXT EVENT IS APPROACHING OCCLUSION WHICH
WILL BRING INCREASING WINDS AND CHANCE OF SNOW TO ZONE 213 AND
THEN TO OTHER WEST COAST ZONES TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. A
BLIZZARD IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION...BUT WITH THE OCCLUSIONS
PARENT SURFACE LOW PROGGED TO REMAIN WAY OUT IN THE WESTERN
BERING...PATTERN IS NOT OPTIMAL FOR BLIZZARD. WILL NOT ISSUE ANY
WATCH AT THIS TIME. THE WEST COAST WILL THEN REMAIN IN THE
SHOOTING GALLERY FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE AS A SERIES OF LOWS
AND THEIR OCCLUDED FRONTS WILL BE PUSHED FROM SOUTH TO NORTH BY
THE 500MB FLOW ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE RIDGE AXIS. MILD
TEMPERATURES (AROUND ZERO AT 850MB) POSSIBLE SOUTH OF THE BERING
STRAIT BY NEXT WEEKEND WILL MAKE FOR POSSIBLE MIXED PHASE
PRECIPITATION.

INTERIOR...OVER THE NEXT 36 HOURS A LOW IN THE NORTHEASTERN
CORNER OF THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL BRING A SHOT OF OVER-RUNNING
SNOW TO SOUTHEAST INTERIOR. THIS LOW WILL ALSO PROVIDE SEA LEVEL
PRESSURE GRADIENT TO PRODUCE GUSTY NORTH WINDS THROUGH PASSES.
700MB FLOW PROGGED TO BE NORTHERLY UP TO 40KT ALSO LENDS
CREDIBILITY TO THE IDEA OF POSSIBLE BLIZZARD IN ZONES 225 AND 226.
CONDITIONS LIKELY TO BE LOWEST IN ZONE 226 WHERE MORE SNOW IS
LIKELY DUE TO PROXIMITY TO THE LOW. THEN BY MID WEEK CONDITIONS
SHOULD QUIET DOWN CONSIDERABLY OVER THE INTERIOR WITH 500MB
RIDGING DEVELOPING ALONG THE WEST COAST AND SLOWLY DRIFTING EAST
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND. THIS
PATTERN SHOULD BRING DRY WEATHER TO THE INTERIOR ALONG WITH THE
POSSIBILITY OF SOME VERY STEEP SURFACE-BASED TEMPERATURE
INVERSIONS. MODELS INDICATE 500MB HEIGHTS WILL BE AROUND 30DM
HIGHER THAN SEASONAL NORMALS.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WINTER STORM WARNING 226.
         WINTER STORM WATCH 225.
         DENSE FOG ADVISORY 211...212...214.
MARINE...BRISK WIND ADVISORY 9B.

ES DEC 04

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Denali

When
December 27, 12:00 PM AST to December 29, 3:00 AM AST
Where
Denali forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng

When
December 27, 2:00 PM AST to December 29, 1:00 AM AST
Where
Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng 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: 5432536, 5432537.