Blizzard in Alaska, January 5 to 6, 2004

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, January 5 to 6, 2004
Start: 2004-01-05T15:00
End: 2004-01-06T05:00
Location: Alaska

January 5 to 6, 2004 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

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.

A large low pressure center moved from the high Arctic Ocean southeast over Banks Island in Canada, and brought northwest winds to the eastern half of the Arctic Coast on the 5th and 6th. These winds created blizzard conditions in blowing snow. Blizzard conditions were observed at:Zone 203: Deadhorse (ASOS) Zone 204: Kaktovik (Commercial Air Carrier Pilot).

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 Jan 5, 2:30 PM AST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 2:30 PM AST, 30 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM AST MON JAN 5 2004

.DISCUSSION...VERY STRONG HIGH PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT WILL
DOMINATE THE WEATHER OVER NORTHERN ALASKA FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT FEW
DAYS. COMPUTER MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE FORECAST OVER NEXT
FEW DAYS. THE MAIN WEATHER PROBLEM THAT IS AFFECTING NORTHERN ALASKA
IS STRONG W-LY WINDS ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST EAST OF BARROW. A STRONG
PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN 1050+ MB HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN
INTERIOR AND 1000 MB LOW PRESSURE OVER THE HIGH ARCTIC IS GENERATING
35 TO 60 MPH WINDS OVER ZONES 203 AND 204. THE COMBINATION OF VERY
STRONG WINDS AND BLOWING SNOW IS PRODUCING BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVER
ZONE 204 TODAY. THE MODELS INDICATE THAT THESE WINDS WILL BECOME MORE
N-LY AND SLOWLY DIMINISH BEGINNING ON TUE AS THE SURFACE HIGH CENTER
SHIFTS NW-WARD TO A POSITION OVER THE CHUKCHI SEA BY TUE AND THE HIGH
ARCTIC LOW CENTER MOVES OFF TO THE EAST.

AS THE FLOW BECOMES N-LY, COLDER AIR WILL BE PUSHED S-WARD OVER THE
EASTERN ARCTIC ZONES AND INTO THE INTERIOR OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
THIS DRY AND COLD N-LY FLOW SHOULD CLEAR OUT ANY REMAINING
STRATUS/LOW CLOUDS THAT IS STILL FOUND OVER THE INTERIOR. BRISK N-LY
WINDS ARE LIKELY TO BLOW THROUGH BROOKS RANGE PASSES TONIGHT AND TUE
AS THE COLDER AIR WORKS ITS WAY S-WARD. THE COLDER AIR IS EXPECTED TO
BEGIN TO WORK ITS WAY W-WARD AS WELL AS S-WARD TUE THROUGH THU AS
WINDS BECOMING NE-LY THEN E-LY OVER MOST OF MAINLAND ALASKA. TEMPS
ARE EXPECTED TO SLOWLY DROP TUE THROUGH THU WITH -30 TO -40 TEMPS
BECOMING WIDESPREAD OVER MUCH OF THE INTERIOR BY WED NIGHT AND THU
WITH A FEW SPOTS FALLING TO NEAR -50 OVER THE YUKON FLATS. A SLOW
WARMING TREND IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON FRI AND CONTINUE INTO THE
WEEKEND AS LOW PRESSURE BECOMES ESTABLISHED OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA
AND THE HIGH CENTER WEAKENS. WARMER AIR IS EXPECTED TO BE SLOWLY
PUSHED W-WARD AND N-WARD OVER THE STATE ALONG WITH INCREASING CLOUDS.
HOWEVER NO SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED TO FALL ANYWHERE OVER
NORTHERN ALASKA FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AS THE BEST MOISTURE AND
DYNAMICS REMAINS WELL TO OUR SOUTH.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...BLIZ WARNING 204 TONIGHT. WIND ADVY 202 AND 203 TONIGHT.
DENSE FOG ADVY THIS EVENING 208...209...210.
MARINE...GALE 11B TONIGHT. BRSK 11A TONIGHT. SMCR/BRSK 14...9B
TONIGHT/TUE.

MP JAN 04

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: January 5, 3:00 PM AST to 7:00 PM AST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast

When: January 5, 10:09 PM AST to January 6, 5:00 AM AST
Where: Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AIRPLANE PILOT

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

Every storm in Alaska in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, January 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: 5381195, 5381196.