Blizzard in Alaska, March 2 to 3, 2005

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, March 2 to 3, 2005
Start: 2005-03-02T06:59
End: 2005-03-03T06:55
Location: Alaska

March 2 to 3, 2005 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

High pressure near Wrangell Island with low pressure over the Gulf of Alaska created moderate north winds over the far western coast of Alaska. The high strengthen some which increased winds and produced a period of blizzard conditions to several locations over western Alaska. Blizzard conditions:Zone 207: Likely occurred at Kivalina ASOS; possibly at Point Hope AWOS. Highest Wind gust 55 mph at Point Hope AWOS.Zone 213: Likely occurred at Tin City AWOS; highest wind gust 38 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 2, 6:00 AM AST, 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 2, 6:00 AM AST, 59 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
600 AM AST WED MAR 2 2005

.DISCUSSION...THE GFS...ETA...AND ECMF ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN
RETROGRADING THE TROUGH ALOFT PRESENTLY ALONG A LINE FROM ABOUT
PABR-PAOM-PACD WESTWARD TO LIE ALONG A LINE FROM WRANGEL ISLAND
SOUTHWARD OVER THE GULF OF ANADYR AND THE CENTRAL BERING SEA AT
3AM FRI. HEIGHT RISES ARE MODEST EVEN OVER THE WEST COAST...BUT
PROBABLY SUFFICIENT TO PUT AN END TO THE PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW
THAT WEVE BEEN GETTING OVER THE INTERIOR. THE EQUALLY MODEST
LOW LEVEL WARM ADVECTION OVER NORTHWEST ALASKA WILL LIKELY ERODE
THE LOW LEVEL COLD AIR THERE ENOUGH TO WEAKEN THE PRESSURE GRADIENT
SUBSTANTIALLY.

THE RETROGRESSION DOES ALLOWS A SURFACE LOW PRESENTLY WELL SOUTH
OF PASY TO DEEPEN NICELY AS IT MOVES EAST INTO THE WESTERN GULF
OF ALASKA THEN BACK NORTHWEST TO BE ABOUT 965 MB IN THE PADU-PACD
AREA SAT MORNING...AND WE DO BEGIN TO SEE APPRECIABLE HEIGHT RISES
OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN MAINLAND ALASKA ON SAT. THE GFS SHOWS
A GENUINE CHINOOK PATTERN FOR SUN. THE ECMF IS NOT QUIT THAT
ENTHUSIASTIC...THOUGH THE PATTERN IS CERTAINLY WARMER.

.AFG WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY ZONES 219 THROUGH 221 TODAY.
         WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ZONE 207
         WIND CHILL ADVISORY ZONES 201...213.
         WIND ADVISORY ZONE 208.
MARINE...GALE AREAS 9B AND 10B.
         BRISK WIND AREAS 9A AND 11A.

DJH MAR 05

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: March 2, 6:59 AM AST to March 3, 6:55 AM AST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: March 2, 9:55 AM AST to 7:55 PM AST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait 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, 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: 5442107, 5442106.