Blizzard in Alaska, February 12, 2005

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, February 12, 2005
Start: 2005-02-12T04:16
End: 2005-02-12T21:56
Location: Alaska

February 12, 2005 · NWS AFG · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

For Zone 211, blizzard conditions occurred at Nome and were likely at Golovin AWOS. For Zone 213, blizzard conditions were likely at Gambell AWOS and Savoonga AWOS.

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.

The weather front from a low in the south-central Bering Sea moved north over western Alaska on the 12th.For Zone 211, blizzard conditions occurred at Nome and were likely at Golovin AWOS. Highest wind gusts were 47 mph.For Zone 213, blizzard conditions were likely at Gambell AWOS and Savoonga AWOS. Highest gust was 52 mph at Gambell AWOS.For Zone 214, blizzard conditions were likely at Cape Romanzof AWOS and Emmonak AWOS. Highest gust was 52 mph at Romanzof AWOS.

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 Feb 11, 2:30 PM AST, 13 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 11, 2:30 PM AST, 13 hours 46 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
230 PM AST FRI FEB 11 2005

.DISCUSSION...
RAPID CHANGES COMING TO NORTHERN ALASKA WEATHER OVER THE WEEKEND
AS COLD AIRMASS NOW IN PLACE SPLITS...WITH SOME HEADED SOUTHEAST
INTO BC WHILE THE BULK OF THE COLD AIR RETROGRADES INTO EASTERN
SIBERIA. THIS WILL ALLOW RIDGE TO BUILD ALONG ABOUT 160W LATER
TONIGHT...WITH RIDGE AXIS NEAR THE ALASKA-YUKON BORDER BY SUNDAY
AFTERNOON. RESULT WILL BE A PERIOD OF UNSETTLED WEATHER FOR MUCH
OF THE FORECAST AREA.

MODELS...NOT SURPRISINGLY...SOME DIFFERENCES IN THE MODELS BUT ALL
IN DECENT AGREEMENT ON THE BASIC EVOLUTION. WE TEND TO FAVOR THE
GFS WITH ITS DEEPER...BETTER ORGANIZED LOWS IN THE BERING SEA
IN THE SHORT TERM. BY LATE SUNDAY MODELS BECOME MORE DIVERGENT
IN THE BERING SEA THOUGH NO RATIONALE FOR ONE OR THE OTHER.

FOR THE NORTH SLOPE...TREND WILL BE FOR COOLER WEATHER IN THE
SHORT TERM THOUGH BY MONDAY WINDS WILL BE INCREASING AS PRESSURES
FALL OVER SOUTH OF THE BROOKS RANGE.

FOR THE WEST COAST...OCCLUSION MOVING NORTH SEEMS SET TO BRING
ADVISORY/WARNING LEVEL WEATHER TO MOST COASTAL ZONES STARTING
SATURDAY BUT WITH MOST OF THE HEAVY WEATHER ON SEWARD PEN/NW
ALASKA COMING SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

FOR THE INTERIOR...MAJOR FORECAST PROBLEM IN THE SHORT TERM IS
CLOUDS...OR LACK THEREOF. WITH AIRMASS BEING FAIRLY COLD...VALLEY
TEMPS WILL RAPIDLY FALL WHEN AND WHERE SKIES CLEAR. CLEARING
WILL BE FAIRLY RAPID ON SATURDAY AS RIDGE ALOFT BUILDS. WARMING
WILL OCCUR IN ERNEST WEST OF THE RIDGE ALOFT AXIS.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WS WATCH ZONES 207 THRU 214.
MARINE...GALE 9A..9B..10B. BWA 10A.

RT FEB 05

Event by event

3 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: February 12, 4:16 AM AST to 9:56 PM AST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Yukon Delta

When: February 12, 5:55 AM AST to 3:55 PM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Srn Seward Peninsula Coast

When: February 12, 8:13 AM AST to 8:53 PM AST
Where: Srn Seward Peninsula 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.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 2005

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: 5437562, 5437563, 5437561.