Heavy Snow in Alaska, January 2 to 4, 2005

Name: Heavy Snow in Alaska, January 2 to 4, 2005
Start: 2005-01-02T20:00
End: 2005-01-04T05:00
Location: Alaska

January 2 to 4, 2005 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A low pressure system moving eastward across the state brought overrunning to the McGrath region. Snow fell at a rate of one inch per hour at the height of this event.

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 AFC wrote it up.

A low pressure system moving eastward across the state brought overrunning to the McGrath region. Snow fell at a rate of one inch per hour at the height of this event. WSO McGrath measured a 13 inch storm snow total with most of the accumulation in a 12 hour period. Higher amounts were likely along the lee slopes of the Alaska range.

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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 2, 5:00 PM AST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 2, 5:00 PM AST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA
500 PM AST SUN JAN 2 2005

.DISCUSSION...
A 300 MB JET MOVING NORTHEAST ACROSS THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS AND INTO
THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA SUNDAY AFTERNOON WILL SHIFT EAST INTO BRISTOL BAY
AND THE SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL INTERIOR MONDAY AFTERNOON AND WILL LIE
OVER KODIAK ISLAND, THE COOK INLET AND COPPER RIVER BASIN TUESDAY
AFTERNOON. THE POSITION OF THE JET WILL SLOW THE PASSAGE OF THE
WEATHER FRONT THROUGH SOUTHERN ALASKA.

DUE TO THE POSITION AND ORIENTAL OF THE JET THERE IS A STRONG
POTENTIAL OF SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ALONG THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST SIDE
OF HIGHER TERRAIN. AREAS WITH THE HIGHEST POSSIBILITIES OF HEAVY SNOW
IS THE NORTHERN SUSITNA VALLEY AND ALONG THE MOUNTAINS OF PRINCE
WILLIAM SOUND.

A 962 MB LOW 200 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GAMBELL WILL MOVE TO 270 MILES
WEST OF BARROW AND WEAKEN TO 975 MB MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE WEATHER
FRONT OVER THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA AND THE ALASKA PENINSULA WILL MOVE
INTO THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR AND BRISTOL BAY SUNDAY NIGHT, INTO THE
COOK INLET AND SUSITNA VALLEY MONDAY AND INTO PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND
AND THE COPPER RIVER BASIN TUESDAY.

A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO SOUTHWEST ALASKA MONDAY
NIGHT.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...STORMS...8, 12B, 13AB, 14, 15.
         GALES...6AB, 12A.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

NM JAN 05

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Kuskokwim Valley

When: January 2, 8:00 PM AST to January 4, 5:00 AM AST
Where: Kuskokwim Valley forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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, January 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: 5433605.