Blizzard, Kenai Peninsula
- When
- November 25, 3:00 AM AST to 4:15 PM AST
- Where
- Kenai Peninsula forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Blizzard in Alaska, November 25, 2005
The Kamishak gap jet was streaming into Kachemak Bay and causing a local Blizzard there. Spotters in the Homer Bluff area reported whiteout conditions with heavy snow and winds gusting between 25 to 35 mph.
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.
The Kamishak gap jet was streaming into Kachemak Bay and causing a local Blizzard there. Spotters in the Homer Bluff area reported whiteout conditions with heavy snow and winds gusting between 25 to 35 mph. Clair (on the Bluff) had 5 feet of snow drifted on her deck over the last two days with 18 inches in 24 hours - and still accumulating. FAA and state troopers mentioned 1 to 4 foot drifts in the Homer area.
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 Nov 24, 1:00 PM AST, 14 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Nov 24, 1:00 PM AST, 14 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA 100 PM AST THU NOV 24 2005 .DISCUSSION...GFS MODEL OVERALL THE BEST AND WILL BE USED FOR AFTERNOON PACKAGES. .EASTERN DOMAIN...STORM CENTER OVER THE NORTHERN GULF IS BASICALLY A CARBON COPY OF YESTERDAY. 18Z ANAL PUT CENTER SE OF MIDDLETON ISLAND. ARCTIC BOUNDARY EXTENDS FROM THE SOUTHERN COPPER RIVER BASIN...EAST TO OVER WESTERN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND...THEN SOUTH ALONG 145W. WARM FRONT EXTENDS NORTH TO JUST WEST OF CORDOVA..THEN GOES ALOFT OVER THE ARCTIC FRONT VICINITY COPPER RIVER BASIN. EXPECT WARM TROUGH ALOFT/OVERRUNNING PRECIPITATION TO SPREAD WEST AND NORTH THROUGH TODAY. SIGNIFICANT SNOW AMOUNTS COPPER RIVER BASIN/SOUTHCENTRAL TODAY. SNOW WILL DIMINISH THESE AREAS TONIGHT AS LOW MOVES INLAND AND WEAKENS. SOME SNOW SHOWERS WILL LINGER THROUGH TONIGHT AND NEXT COUPLE DAYS SOUTHCENTRAL UNTIL UPPER TROUGH MOVES THROUGH SAT NIGHT. FREEZING RAIN LIKELY THROUGH LATE THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE EASTERN COPPER RIVER BASIN WITH WARM OVERRUNNING. EXPECT TEMPS WILL COOL ALOFT THROUGH THIS EVENING SO FREEZING RAIN POTENTIAL SHOULD END. .WEST DOMAIN...UPPER TROUGH CONTINUES OVER THE SW MAINLAND THROUGH SAT AND IS REPLACED BY RIDGE SAT NIGHT/SUN. EXPECT SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS THROUGHOUT THE AREA UNTIL TROUGH CLEARS. AREAS OF LOW ALSO WILL HANG AROUND...MAINLY COASTAL AREAS. BRISK NW FLOW AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE GENERAL RULE EASTERN BERING SEA/EAST ALEUTIANS/AK PEN THROUGH FRI. DEVELOPING LOW MOVES TO WESTERN BERING SEA SAT. ASSOCIATED FRONT MOVES TO CENTRAL ALEUTIANS BY SAT AM. SOUTHERLY GALES/STORMS IN ADVANCE OF FRONT WILL SPREAD TO EAST/CENTRAL ALEUTIANS EARLY SAT. .AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY PUBLIC...NO WARNING...NUMEROUS ADVISORIES. MARINE...SEE CURRENT PACKAGE. RMC NOV 05
Event by event
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
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
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, November 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: 5476941.