Alaska, 2004

Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, December 30 to 31, 2004

December 30 to 31, 2004 · NWS AFG · 8 events in 6 counties and zones

A 984 mb low over the northeastern Bering Sea moved north over the Chukotsk Peninsula and Chukchi Sea on the 30th to 180 miles north of Barrow on the 31st. The system brought high winds and blizzard conditions to local areas across the west coast of Alaska.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

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 984 mb low over the northeastern Bering Sea moved north over the Chukotsk Peninsula and Chukchi Sea on the 30th to 180 miles north of Barrow on the 31st. The system brought high winds and blizzard conditions to local areas across the west coast of Alaska. Blizzard Conditions reported:Zone 207 - likely at Kivalina ASOS.Zone 208 - likely at Noatak AWOS.Zone 209 - Kotzebue.Zone 213 - likely at Gambell AWOS. Zone 214 - likely at Cape Romanzof AWOS.High Winds occurred at:Zone 201 - Cape Lisburne AWOS highest gust 60 knots (69 mph).Zone 207 - Point Hope AWOS highest gust 57 knots (66 mph).Zone 214 - Cape Romanzof AWOS highest gust 55 knots (63 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 29, 2:30 PM AST, 11 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 29, 2:30 PM AST, 11 hours 45 minutes before
NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM AST WED DEC 29 2004

.DISCUSSION...SHARP HIGH-AMPLITUDE UPPER RIDGE EXTENDS N FROM SUB-
TROPICS TO BRISTOL BAY AND N TO WRN N SLOPE. LOWS/ASSOCIATED FRONTS
ARE SLIDING N ALONG PERIPHERY OF RIDGE OVER BERING SEA/W COAST AND
GLANCING WRN N SLOPE...BRINGING WIND/SNOW/LOCAL BLIZ CONDITIONS
THERE BUT MAINTAINING DRY WEATHER WITH STRENGTHENING VALLEY
INVERSIONS OVER THE INTERIOR. THIS BASIC PATTERN TO CONTINUE FOR
AT LEAST NEXT FIVE DAYS...IF NOT LONGER.

FIRST WEAKENING FRONT HAS GONE ALOFT OVER CHUKCHI SEA AND ADJACENT
COAST. SNOW/WIND WITH THIS FROM SEWARD PENINSULA N WILL DIMINISH
TONIGHT. NEXT SYSTEM IS ABOUT 995 MB LOW OVER CENTRAL ALEUTIANS
(20Z). MODELS FORECAST IT TO DEEPEN TO ABOUT 980 MB OVER CHUKOTKA
THU AFTERNOON. BRUNT OF ENERGY WITH THIS SYSTEM FORECAST TO HIT
ST LAWRENCE/SEWARD PEN., AND CHUKCHI SEA COAST THU AND THU NIGHT
...ENDING FRI WRN N SLOPE. VARIETY OF WSW/BLIZZARD WATCHES/WARNINGS
FOR AFFECTED ZONES ARE OUT. USED GFS MORE FOR THIS NEXT SYSTEM FOR
WINDS/WEATHER AS ITS DEEPER FORECAST OF SURFACE LOW SEEMS MORE
REASONABLE.

A COUPLE MORE WEAKER FRONTS FORECAST TO SLIDE N BUT FURTHER W
ALONG W COAST FRI THROUGH SAT...BUT LIKELY WILL NOT PRODUCE AS
INCLEMENT OF WEATHER. CONTINUED N-WARD ADVECTION OF MILD MARITIME
AIR COULD RESULT IN -RA/-FZRA ISSUES BY THEN COASTAL ZONES HOWEVER.

INTERIOR TO REMAIN QUIET UNDER RIDGE...WITH COLDEST TEMPS. ERN
PORTIONS...AND STRONG VALLEY INVERSIONS INTO THE WEEKEND. CENTRAL
AND ERN N SLOPE WILL SEE SOME INCREASES IN WIND AND OCCASIONAL
-SN OR FLURRIES WITH EACH TROUGH PASSAGE FROM SYSTEMS ROUNDING
THE RIDGE THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...BUT LIKELY NOTHING REACHING
ADVISORY CRITERIA FOR WIND OR BLOWING SNOW.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WSW FOR BLIZ CONDITIONS TNGT/THU 201/207/208/209
                                      THU 210/211/213/214

MARINE...GALE TNGT/THU 9A 10A 10B
         STORM THU 9B 11A
         BWA TNGT/THU 11B

MAR DEC 04

Event by event

5 blizzard, 3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Yukon Delta

When
December 30, 2:15 AM AST to 7:55 AM AST
Where
Yukon Delta forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When
December 30, 2:56 AM AST to 6:00 PM AST
Where
St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Yukon Delta

When
December 30, 3:55 AM AST to 2:55 PM AST
Where
Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Western Arctic Coast

When
December 30, 8:30 AM AST to 11:00 PM AST
Where
Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Measured
60 kt (69 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When
December 30, 1:25 PM AST to 5:53 PM AST
Where
Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Lower Kobuk & Noatak Valleys

When
December 30, 1:36 PM AST to 6:36 PM AST
Where
Lower Kobuk & Noatak Valleys forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Chukchi Sea Coast

When
December 30, 1:53 PM AST to December 31, 4:53 PM AST
Where
Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Chukchi Sea Coast

When
December 30, 5:16 PM AST to 6:56 PM AST
Where
Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Measured
57 kt (66 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
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: 5432531, 5432532, 5432530, 5432533, 5432529, 5432534, 5432528, 5432535.