Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, February 18 to 19, 2006

Name: Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, February 18 to 19, 2006
Start: 2006-02-18T13:15
End: 2006-02-19T17:26
Location: Alaska

February 18 to 19, 2006 · NWS AFG · 7 events in 5 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 976 mb low moved north over the eastern Bering Sea on the18th producing strong winds over the outer Yukon Delta. The low continued north past the Bering Strait and curved northeast moving along just northwest of Barrow on the 19th at 970 mb. The low proceeded slowly northeast on the 20th and weakened.High Winds were reported at:Zone 201: Wainwright AWOS gust to 58 knots (67 mph); Cape Lisburne AWOS: gusts to 57 knots (66 mph).Zone 202: Barrow ASOS gusts to 58 knots (67 mph).Zone 203: Deadhorse ASOS gusts to 53 knots (61 mph).Zone 214: Emmonak AWOS gust to 52 knots (60 mph).Blizzard conditions:Zone 201: likely at Wainwright ASOS.Zone 202: reported at Barrow ASOS.

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 Feb 18, 6:18 AM AST, 6 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 18, 6:18 AM AST, 6 hours 57 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
618 AM AST SAT FEB 18 2006

.DISCUSSION...MUCH ACTION WITH FAST MOVER RUNNING UP ALASKAS WEST
COAST TODAY. FORTUNATELY ETA AND GFS MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT
REGARDING THE SYNOPTIC-SCALE ISSUES HERE. THIS FEATURE WILL BRING
A GOOD AMOUNT OF WIND AND SNOW TO MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA FROM
THE BROOKS RANGE SOUTH. USUAL WEST COAST LOCATIONS (EXCEPT 213
WHICH IS TOO CLOSE TO THE LOWS CENTER) WILL HAVE BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS TODAY. HEAVIEST SNOW IS POISED TO BE ALONG THE SOUTHERN
SLOPES OF THE BROOKS RANGE...ROUGHLY FROM THE DALTON HIGHWAY
WESTWARD. IN THESE AREAS A COMBINATION OF DYNAMIC FORCING AND
UPSLOPE WILL BE COMBINED.

A COLD ADVECTION CONVECTIVE REGIME WILL THEN RUSH IN SUNDAY BEHIND THIS
FEATURE. THE FAST FLOW ALOFT COMING OFF THE DATA-POOR NORTH
PACIFIC MEANS THE TIMING OF SHORT WAVES TROUGHS ALFOT...AND THUS THE
TIMING OF BEST CHANCES FOR SNOW SHOWERS...WILL BE VERY TOUGH. SO
HAVE OPTED FOR A MORE GENERIC SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS FORECAST
ACROSS BROAD AREAS SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

ONE OTHER ISSUE TO CONSIDER LATER TODAY WILL BE POTENTIAL FOR
SIGNIFICANT BLOWING SNOW NORTH OF THE BROOKS RANGE SUNDAY IN THE
POST FRONTAL ENVIRONMENT.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ225-AKZ226.

WINTER STORM WATCH FOR AKZ220-AKZ221-AKZ222.

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ206-AKZ208-AKZ210-AKZ217-AKZ218-
AKZ219.

BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ211-AKZ212-AKZ214.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ207-AKZ209-AKZ213-AKZ215-AKZ216.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230-PKZ240-
PKZ245.
&&

ES FEB 06

Event by event

5 high wind, 2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Yukon Delta

When: February 18, 1:15 PM AST to 2:15 PM AST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: February 18, 11:17 PM AST to February 19, 2:53 AM AST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Measured: 59 kt (68 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Western Arctic Coast

When: February 19, 8:53 AM AST to 2:12 PM AST
Where: Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Northern Arctic Coast

When: February 19, 9:42 AM AST to 4:00 PM AST
Where: Northern Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Northern Arctic Coast

When: February 19, 9:53 AM AST to 3:36 PM AST
Where: Northern Arctic Coast forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast

When: February 19, 9:53 AM AST to 2:12 PM AST
Where: Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: February 19, 4:53 PM AST to 5:26 PM AST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
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 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5492958, 5492964, 5492959, 5492963, 5492960, 5492962, 5492961.