Alaska, 2004

Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, November 30, 2004

November 30, 2004 · NWS AFG · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

A low pressure center moved from Saint Lawrence island to the Bering Strait while high pressure strengthened over the Arctic Ocean. This likely created blizzard conditions as reported by Tin City AWOS near the Bering Strait, with highest wind gust of 55 knots (63 mph), and blizzard conditions were also likely in zone 201 as reported by Point Lay and Wainwright.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 low pressure center moved from Saint Lawrence island to the Bering Strait while high pressure strengthened over the Arctic Ocean. This likely created blizzard conditions as reported by Tin City AWOS near the Bering Strait, with highest wind gust of 55 knots (63 mph), and blizzard conditions were also likely in zone 201 as reported by Point Lay and Wainwright. End time at Tin City (zone 213) is estimated as the AWOS failed to transmit observations beyond late afternoon. Event continued into December.

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 Nov 30, 6:00 AM AST, 7 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 30, 6:00 AM AST, 7 hours 48 minutes before
NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM AST TUE NOV 30 2004

.DISCUSSION...HAVE BASED FORECASTS ON 00Z GFS MODEL DUE TO GFS
BETTER INITIALIZATION OF FEATURES IN BERING SEA (AS DEPICTED ON
GOES IMAGERY) AND CONSISTENTLY POOR PERFORMANCE OF ETA OVER LAST
SEVERAL DAYS.  THE GFS DOES APPEAR TO BE MAKING A CLASSIC ERROR
IN TAKING STRONG SURFACE LOW FROM BRISTOL BAY INTO SOUTHEAST
INTERIOR WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT...OBLIVIOUS TO TERRAIN
CONSIDERATIONS. 500MB PATTERN ON GFS SEEMS OKAY...BUT BELIEVE
SURFACE LOW WILL BE SEVERAL MBS WEAKER THAN GFS FORECAST AND
POSSIBLY A BIT FURTHER SOUTH.

IN NEAR TERM...CHANCE FOR BLIZZARD TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR
WESTERN ARCTIC COAST AS LATEST SURFACE LOW TO MOVE INTO BERING
STRAIT TAKES UP RESIDENCE LATER TODAY AND TIGHTENS PRESSURE
GRADIENT ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST. WEAKENING OCCLUDED FRONT
ASSOCIATED WITH THE SURFACE LOW WILL BRING SOME MORE ORGANIZED
SNOW TO ZONE 201 TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. GIVEN THAT CONDITIONS
ARE CLOSE TO BLIZ NOW AT WAINWRIGHT...THESE CHANGES COULD BE
ENOUGH TO PUSH WEATHER INTO WARNING CRITERIA. EXPECT BARROW
WILL NOT GET BLIZ AS OCCLUDED FRONT HAS NO WESTWARD PUSH ALOFT
TO ESCORT IT EASTWARD BEYOND 201.

THIS SAME OCCLUDED FRONT IS NOW WORKING ITS WAY NORTHWARD ALONG
THE WEST COAST. CONDITIONS IN SOUTHWEST ALASKA BEHIND THE
OCCLUSION ARE WARM ENOUGH FOR RAIN. NOME 88D HAS SHOWN THIS
FEATURE NICELY.

IN THE MID TERM...COLDER WEATHER STILL APPEARS ON TAP FOR THE
WEEKEND AS THE PATTERN ALOFT BECOMES PROGRESSIVE FOR A CHANGE
AND OFFERS THE POSSIBILITY OF SHORT-LIVED YAKUTAT LOW SCENARIO.
EASTERN INTERIOR IS POISED TO HAVE COLDEST WEATHER...WITH GFS
AND ECMWF STICKING WITH THE IDEA OF 850MB TEMPERATURES IN THE
-20C TO -25C RANGE ON SATURDAY.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...ZONE 201: WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY.
                   WINTER STORM WATCH TONIGHT AND TUESDAY.
         ZONES 202 AND 203: WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT.
         ZONE 214: WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ENDING THIS MORNING.
         ZONE 216: WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY.
MARINE...AREA 9A: SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY TODAY.
         AREA 9B: SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THROUGH TONIGHT.
         AREA 10A: BRISK WIND ADVISORY TODAY.
         AREA 10B: HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING THROUGH TONIGHT.
                   SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THROUGH TONIGHT.
         AREA 11A: BRISK WIND ADVISORY TODAY.
                   GALE WARNING TONIGHT.
         AREA 11B: BRISK WIND ADVISORY THROUGH TONIGHT.

ES NOV 04

Event by event

2 blizzard, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When
November 30, 1:48 PM AST to 6:00 PM AST
Where
St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When
November 30, 1:48 PM AST to 6:00 PM AST
Where
St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast

When
November 30, 4:33 PM AST to 11:59 PM AST
Where
Western Arctic Coast 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.
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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, November 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: 5428012, 5428013, 5428011.