Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, March 14 to 15, 2005

Name: Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, March 14 to 15, 2005
Start: 2005-03-14T07:16
End: 2005-03-15T21:00
Location: Alaska

March 14 to 15, 2005 · NWS AFG · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

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 weather front moving northeast from the Bering Sea decelerated as it approached the west coast of Alaska, and brought enough moisture to cause blizzard conditions. Blizzard conditions:Zone 207: Likely occurred at Kivalina, possibly at Point Hope. Point Hope AWOS highest gust 51 mph.Zone 209: occurred at Kotzebue; ASOS peak wind gust 45 mph.Zone 213: likely occurred at Gambell and Savoonga. Gambell AWOS highest gust 53 mph. Zone 214: likely occurred at Cape Romanzof, highest AWOS gust 45 mph.High Wind reported at:Zone 201: Cape Lisburne AWOS peak gust 77 knots (89 mph).

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 14, 6:00 AM AST, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 14, 6:00 AM AST, 1 hour 16 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM AST MON MAR 14 2005

.DISCUSSION...BIG FEATURE IN THE NEAR TERM IS VERTICALLY STACKED
LOW NOW IN THE WESTERN BERING SEA. ASSOCIATED OCCLUDED FRONT NOW
APPROACHING SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND AND PRIBILOF ISLANDS FORM THE
WEST. THERE IS A RESPECTABLE SEA LEVEL PRESSURE GRADIENT AHEAD OF
THIS FRONT...WITH GALE FORCE WINDS. TEMPERATURES ARE A LITTLE TOO
WARM ALONG THE WEST COAST TO ALLOW FOR WIDESPREAD BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS AS MAGNITUDE OF THE BLOWING SNOW WILL BE SOMEWHAT
REDUCED. CAPE ROMANZOFF IS 34 DEGREES NOW...GAMBELL IS 30 DEGREES.
BEST CHANCE FOR BLIZ WILL BE AT THESE SPECIFIC LOCATIONS IN
ZONES 213 AND 214 TODAY. THE OCCLUDED FRONT WILL BE INTO THE
WESTERN INTERIOR TUESDAY...MAKING SLOW PROGRESS DUE TO HOLDING
ACTION OF 500MB RIDGE ALONG ABOUT 140W LONGITUDE. FRONT WILL
THEN START TO DISSIPATE AS IT MOVES INTO EASTERN INTERIOR
WEDNESDAY...AND PRECIPITATION WILL BE MORE CONVECTIVE.

FOR LATER IN THE WEEK...NUMERICAL MODELS HAVE CHANGED THEIR TUNE
SOMEWHAT REGARDING THE LIKELIHOOD OF A TEMPERATURE PLUNGE FOR THE
WEEKEND. GOOD AGREEMENT BETWEEN LATEST RUNS OF GFS...ECMWF...AND
UKMET IN HAVING A FLATTER BUBBLE 500MB HIGH OVER GULF OF ALASKA
FRIDAY...WITH SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW INTO MAINLAND ALASKA. THIS
PATTER IS NOT CONDUCIVE FOR A COLD OUTBREAK...BUT MAY OFFER A
MECHANISM FOR SNOW IN THE INTERIOR. CONFIDENCE IS NOT REAL HIGH...
GIVEN CHANGE IN MODELS OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...ZONE 209: WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM
          THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 AM TUESDAY MORNING.
         ZONE 211: WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT
          FROM 11 AM AST THIS MORNING TO 9 PM TONIGHT.
         ZONE 213: WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL
          12 NOON TODAY.
         ZONE 214: WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM
          THIS EVENING.
MARINE...AREA 9A: BRISK WIND ADVISORY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
         AREA 9B: GALE WARNING TODAY. BRISK WIND ADVISORY TONIGHT.
         AREA 10A: GALE WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
         AREA 10B: GALE WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
         AREA 11A: BRISK WIND ADVISORY TONIGHT.

ES MAR 05

Event by event

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

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: March 14, 7:16 AM AST to 11:56 AM AST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Yukon Delta

When: March 14, 8:55 AM AST to 8:55 PM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: March 14, 11:16 AM AST to March 15, 1:05 AM AST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Western Arctic Coast

When: March 14, 3:55 PM AST to March 15, 9:00 PM AST
Where: Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Measured: 77 kt (89 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: March 15, 10:00 AM AST to 2:14 PM AST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

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

Every storm in Alaska in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, March 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: 5442116, 5442117, 5442118, 5442120, 5442119.