Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, February 5 to 8, 2005

Name: Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, February 5 to 8, 2005
Start: 2005-02-05T20:00
End: 2005-02-08T16:53
Location: Alaska

February 5 to 8, 2005 · NWS AFG · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

A low pressure center over the south-central Bering Sea drifted slowly north on the 6th then moved over the west coast of Alaska on the 7th and 8th. Blizzard conditions:Zone 214 - likely occurred at Cape Romanzof AWOS on the 6th and again on the afternoon of the 7th.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 over the south-central Bering Sea drifted slowly north on the 6th then moved over the west coast of Alaska on the 7th and 8th. The associated weather front moved north over western interior Alaska on the 7th and 8th with the entire system dissipating on the 9th.Blizzard conditions:Zone 214 - likely occurred at Cape Romanzof AWOS on the 6th and again on the afternoon of the 7th. Highest wind gust was 51 mph.Zone 201 - likely occurred at Wainwright. Highest wind gust was 41 mph.Zone 203 - occurred at Kuparuk, and likely occurred at Nuiqsut. highest wind was 41 mph at Nuiqsut.Heavy Snow: Kaltag Co-operative Observer reported 16.0 inches of snow through the 7th. Snow began on the morning of the 5th, and reached warning threshold of 6.0 inches in the evening of the 5th.

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

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

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
230 PM AST SAT FEB 5 2005

.DISCUSSION...

.ALOFT...RIDGE EXTENDING NORTH OVER GULF OF ALASKA TO THE NORTH
SLOPE WILL MOVE EAST INTO CANADA SUN AS LOW OVER WRANGEL ISLAND
MOVES SOUTHEAST TO OVER CAPE LISBURNE BY SUN NIGHT. FLOW BETWEEN
THE RIDGE AND LOW WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY SOUTHWEST OVER THE
INTERIOR SUN. THE LOW WILL MOVE SOUTH TO THE BERING STRAIT MON
AFTERNOON WITH UPPER LEVEL FLOW COMING DIRECTLY OVER THE ALASKA
RANGE. THE SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER THE RANGE WILL CONTINUE THROUGH WED
AS THE LOW SLOWLY DRIFTS TO OVER THE YUKON DELTA BY THAT TIME.

.SURFACE...AN OCCLUDED FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH STRONG LOW PRESSURE
OVER THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE NORTH TO SOUTHWESTERN ALASKA
TONIGHT THEN TO THE WESTERN INTERIOR SUN. LOW PRESSURE WILL FORM
OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN INTERIOR MON THEN DISSIPATE MON NIGHT AS A
STRONGER LOW MOVES NORTH OF KODIAK. THE LOW WILL WEAKEN OVER THE
INTERIOR TUE NIGHT.

.NORTH SLOPE...LIGHT WINDS WILL BECOME EAST TO 20 KNOTS SUN AS
GRADIENT BETWEEN ARCTIC HIGH AND DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE OVER THE
INTERIOR STRENGTHENS. WARMER AIR WILL BE PULLED NORTH OVER THE
AREA MON AS LOW PRESSURE OVER WEST COAST FORMS. LIGHT SNOW OR
FLURRIES WILL SETTLE OVER THE AREA SUN NIGHT AND MON THEN CONTINUE
THROUGH MID WEEK. EAST TO NORTHEAST WINDS COMBINED WITH THE SNOW
WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES AT TIMES.

.WEST COAST...BRISK TO GALE NORTH WINDS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE
SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND AND BERING STRAIT MARINE AREAS ON SUN AS LOW
MOVES NORTH OF THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS AND OCCLUDED FRONT MOVES
NORTH TO SOUTHWEST ALASKA. WINDS WILL CONTINUE AT BRISK TO GALE
THROUGH MON BUT BECOME MORE NORTHERLY AS LOW PRESSURE FORMS OVER
THE WESTERN INTERIOR. COLD AIR WILL WRAP AROUND LOW PRESSURE OVER
THE WEST COAST AND REINFORCE COLD TEMPERATURES OVER SAINT LAWRENCE
ISLAND AND THE BERING STRAIT MON THROUGH WED. WIND CHILLS OF 50
BELOW COULD BECOME A FACTOR IN THE WIND AND COLD. ON TUE AND WED
THE COLDER AIR WILL REACH SOUTHWEST ALASKA. SNOWFALL WITH THE
SYSTEM WILL BE MAINLY EAST AND SOUTH OF SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND.

.INTERIOR...WARMER TEMPERATURES ARE ON THE WAY FOR THE INTERIOR
SUN THROUGH MON AS SOUTHERLY FLOW BETWEEN LOW PRESSURE TO THE WEST
AND RIDGE TO THE EAST INCREASES. SOUTHWEST FLOW SUN AND MON WILL
BRING A CHANCE OF SOME SNOW FOR THE CENTRAL TO EASTERN INTERIOR
BUT THIS CHANCE WILL QUICKLY END MON NIGHT AS THE FLOW COMES
DIRECTLY OVER THE ALASKA RANGE. THIS WILL LEAVE THE WESTERN
INTERIOR AND SOUTH SLOPES OF THE BROOKS RANGE WITH THE MOST
ACCUMULATIONS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. COLDER AIR WRAPPING AROUND
THE WEST COAST LOW PRESSURE COULD ENTER THE PICTURE FROM THE SOUTH
BY THU.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND CHILL ADVISORY:
            ZONE 209 KOTZEBUE SOUND
            ZONE 213 SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND
            ZONE 223 DELTANA AND TANANA FLATS
MARINE...GALE WARNING:
            AREA 9B DALL POINT TO WALES
            AREA 10B WALES TO CAPE LISBURNE

DA FEB 05

Event by event

4 blizzard, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Lower Koyukuk Middle Ykn Vlys

When: February 5, 8:00 PM AST to February 7, 8:00 AM AST
Where: Lower Koyukuk Middle Ykn Vlys forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Blizzard, Yukon Delta

When: February 6, 7:55 AM AST to 2:55 PM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Yukon Delta

When: February 7, 10:55 AM AST to 3:55 PM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast

When: February 8, 2:53 AM AST to 4:53 PM AST
Where: Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: February 8, 5:53 AM AST to 4:53 PM AST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
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: 5437558, 5437556, 5437557, 5437559, 5437560.