Name: Cold in Alaska, March 7, 2004
Start: 2004-03-07T07:50
End: 2004-03-07T13:53
Location: Alaska

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.

With an existing cold airmass in place across the North Slope, a weak disturbance moved through bringing west winds strong enough to produce dangerous wind chills, as reported at:Deadhorse ASOS: -75 FKuparuk: -72 FNuiqsut ASOS: -73 F

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 Mar 7, 6:00 AM AST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 6:00 AM AST, 1 hour 50 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM AST SUN MAR 7 2004

.DISCUSSION...

UPPER AIR: LOW OVER FAR NORTHERN CANADA WITH TROUGH DIAGONALLY
OVER THE STATE WILL BE THE DOMINATE WEATHER MAKER THIS WEEK. A
RIDGE FROM WESTERN CANADA TO THE INTERIOR AT MID WEEK WILL STEER
LOW PRESSURE OVER INTERIOR ALASKA. BY THURSDAY THE TROUGH WILL
AGAIN DEEPEN OVER THE NORTHWESTERN ALASKA INTERIOR.

SURFACE: A 966 MB LOW OVER THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF ALASKA WILL
MOVE INTO THE YUKON TERRITORY THIS AFTERNOON. WEAKER LOW PRESSURE
WILL REMAIN OVER THE NORTHERN GULF AND WILL WEAKEN THROUGH TONIGHT
THEN DISSIPATE ON MONDAY. ON TUESDAY...LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE
NORTHEAST OF BRISTOL BAY THEN ACROSS THE TANANA VALLEY ON
WEDNESDAY. A 1004 MB LOW 300 MILES NORTH OF PRUDHOE BAY WILL
WEAKEN TO 1006 MB 250 MILES NORTH OF BARTER ISLAND BY 3PM AST THIS
AFTERNOON. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE ARCTIC OCEAN TONIGHT
AND MONDAY.

NORTH SLOPE: WIND CHILL WARNING FOR ZONE 203 DUE TO VERY COLD
TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH LIGHT WINDS. LIGHT WINDS AND PATCHY FOG
WILL CONTINUE THIS WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL WARM A LITTLE TONIGHT
AND MONDAY AS UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER FAR NORTHERN CANADA MOVES EAST.
TEMPERATURES WILL TURN COOLER WEDNESDAY AS UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
MOVES SOUTH OVER THE AREA. THE BEAUFORT SEA COAST WILL BE ON THE
EAST SIDE OF THE TROUGH AXIS AND MAY RECEIVE A LITTLE SNOW OR
FLURRIES WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.

WEST COAST: A LITTLE SNOW MAY FALL OVER THE YUKON DELTA TUESDAY AS
UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVES NORTHEAST OVER THE AREA. OTHERWISE MAINLY
PRECIPITATION FREE WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THIS WEEK.

INTERIOR: SNOW COULD SPREAD OVER MUCH OF THE INTERIOR TUESDAY
NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AS UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVES NORTHEAST OF BRISTOL
BAY TO THE INTERIOR. ANY ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LIGHT AND THE
EASTERN TANANA VALLEY WILL LIKELY BE SHADOWED BY THE ALASKA RANGE.
POSSIBLE ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE CLOSELY MONITORED AS THE FLOW
ALOFT WILL BE OUT OF THE SOUTHWEST.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND CHILL WARNING ZONE 203 CENTRAL BEAUFORT SEA COAST.
         WIND CHILL ADVISORY ZONE 213 BERING STRAIT.
MARINE...BRISK WIND ADVISORY AREA 9B THROUGH THE BERING STRAIT.

DA MAR 04

Event by event

1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: March 7, 7:50 AM AST to 1:53 PM AST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill: Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, March 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: 5388111.