Blizzard in Alaska, October 16, 2005

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, October 16, 2005
Start: 2005-10-16T09:53
End: 2005-10-16T12:53
Location: Alaska

October 16, 2005 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Blizzard conditions occurred at Kotzebue. East winds gusted up to 43 mph during the 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 AFG wrote it up.

Blizzard conditions occurred at Kotzebue. East winds gusted up to 43 mph during the event.

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 Oct 16, 4:18 AM AST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 16, 4:18 AM AST, 5 hours 35 minutes before

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Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: October 16, 9:53 AM AST to 12:53 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.

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, October 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5474138.