Name: Heavy Snow in Alaska, April 28, 2006
Start: 2006-04-28T06:00
End: 2006-04-28T09:16
Location: Alaska

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.

An occlusion moving northeast from the Gulf of Alaska into northern British Columbia created a brief heavy snowfall over the far southeast interior of Alaska. The State of Alaska Department of Transportation facility at Tok reported 6 inches of snowfall at 6am AST. Snowfall began around 2am AST on the 28th. Additional snowfall amounts after 6am are unknown, except that the co-operative observer at Northway reported a total snowfall of 6.5 inches. A Tok Spotter reported 5.5 inches at 6am AST.

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 Apr 28, 4:41 AM AST, 1 hour 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 28, 4:41 AM AST, 1 hour 19 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
541 AM ADT FRI APR 28 2006

.DISCUSSION...
THE LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER MAINLAND ALASKA AND THE GULF OF ALASKA
WILL PERSIST THROUGH SUN AND POSSIBLY LONGER. THIS MEANS BELOW
NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND AREAS OF SNOW PERSISTING THROUGH THE
WEEKEND, AND POSSIBLY INTO NEXT WEEK.

MODELS INITIALIZE WELL AND SIMILAR SOLUTIONS AT THE SURFACE.
ONE DIFFERENCE IS IN THE 500 MB PATTERN WHERE THE GFS DROPS A
SHORT WAVE FROM THE CHUKCHI SEA SOUTH ALONG THE WEST COAST OF
ALASKA ON SAT. THIS WILL CAUSE GUSTY WINDS ALONG WEST COAST SAT.

A THE OCCLUDED FRONT FROM ANCHORAGE TO A 990 MB LOW NEAR NORTHWAY
WILL DRIFT SLOWLY NORTH TODAY AND THEN DISSIPATE SLOWLY TONIGHT
THROUGH SATURDAY. THIS IS NOW CAUSING MODERATE SNOW AT NORTHWAY
WITH ABOUT 2 INCHES IN THE LAST TWO HOURS. THIS WILL SPREAD A
CHANCE OF SNOW NORTH TO CENTRAL AND WEST TO HEALY TODAY WITH UP
TO 4 INCHES IN UPLSOPE AREAS ALONG THE ALASKA RANGE. EXPECT STORM
TOTALS THROUGH TONIGHT UP TO 5 INCHES IN THE TOK AREA AND 6 INCHES
IN THE EASTERN ALASKA RANGE.

THIS FRONT COMBINED WITH A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE OVER THE NORTH
SLOPE IS CAUSING NORTHEAST WINDS 15-25 KT ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA
SOUTH OF THE BROOKS RANGE. THE WINDS WILL DECREASE TONIGHT AS THE
WEATHER FRONT STARTS TO WEAKEN.

A TROUGH ALOFT OVER NORTON SOUND WILL MOVE SOUTH OF THE YUKON
DELTA THIS AFTERNOON. FLURRIES AND NORTH WINDS G30 KT ALONG THIS
TROUGH WILL DECREASE NORTH OF THE TROUGH.

A SURFACE TROUGH WILL APPROACH THE EASTERN ARCTIC COAST FROM THE
NORTH FRI NIGHT AND MOVE ALONG THE EASTERN BROOKS RANGE SAT.
THIS WILL KEEP FLURRIES ALONG THE EASTERN ARCTIC COAST AND
INCREASE WINDS AGAIN TONIGHT.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ245.
&&

JB APR 06

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Upr Tanana Vly Fortymile

When: April 28, 6:00 AM AST to 9:16 AM AST
Where: Upr Tanana Vly Fortymile forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, April 2006

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: 5498678.