Blizzard in Alaska, February 24 to 25, 2006

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, February 24 to 25, 2006
Start: 2006-02-24T13:36
End: 2006-02-25T06:36
Location: Alaska

February 24 to 25, 2006 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Zone 213: were likely at Savoonga, as reported by the AWOS.

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.

A complex frontal system move over western Alaska from the southwest Bering Sea, creating blizzard conditions at a few locations and bringing near-blizzard conditions to other places on the coast, like Kotzebue (zone 209) and Nome (zone 211).Blizzard conditions:Zone 207: were likely at Point Hope, as reported by the AWOS.Zone 213: were likely at Savoonga, as reported by the AWOS.

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 24, 5:53 AM AST, 7 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 24, 5:53 AM AST, 7 hours 43 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
553 AM AST FRI FEB 24 2006

.DISCUSSION...
THE MODELS HAVE BEEN REMARKABLY CONSISTENT IN THEIR HANDLING
OF THE LOW DEVELOPING NEAR THE NECK OF KAMCHATKA AT THIS TIME...
MOVING IT RAPIDLY NORTHEAST INTO THE WESTERN CHUKCHI SEA AT 3AM
SAT AND DEEPENING IT TO ABOUT 988 MB. THIS IS ESSENTIALLY THE
SAME TUNE THAT THE GFS HAS BEEN PLAYING FOR DAYS NOW...THOUGH
THE LOW IS NOT NOW EXPECTED TO BE AS DEEP AS THE GFS WOULD HAVE
HAD IT A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO. THE MODELS DIVERGE SLIGHTLY ON
SATURDAY CONCERNING THE POSITION OF THE SURFACE LOW...BUT
BOTH HAVE IT DECELERATING SHARPLY AND BEGINNING TO WEAKEN. WE
ARE USING THE GFS POSITION FOR THE SURFACE LOW...MORE OR LESS
RIGHT UNDER THE LOW ALOFT.

THE FRONTAL SYSTEM IS OPEN AT THIS POINT OF COURSE...IT WILL
BE IN THE PROCESS OF OCCLUSION AS IT MOVES ONTO OUR WEST COAST
...BUT WE WILL LIKELY SEE DISTINCT WARM AND COLD FRONTAL PASSAGES
FROM NOME SOUTH...AND MAYBE FARTHER NORTH. THE OCCLUDED FRONT
WILL MOVE RATHER RAPIDLY EASTWARD OVER THE INTERIOR ON SATURDAY...
WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR THE RELATIVELY MODEST PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS
EXPECTED THERE (AS COMPARED TO OUR QPFS FOR THE WEST COAST ZONES).
THE COMBINATION OF WIND AND SNOW WILL MOST LIKELY BE THE MAIN
PROBLEM IN THE INTERIOR THOUGH...MOST NOTABLY ON THE HILLS.

WITH THE SURFACE LOW LIKELY REMAINING CENTERED SOUTH OF THE BROOKS
RANGE...IT IS NOT CLEAR THAT THIS SYSTEM WILL BE MUCH OF A WEATHER
MAKER FOR THE ARCTIC COAST...EXCEPT FOR SOME WIND. ZONE 201 COULD
BLIZ THOUGH AS THE THING COMES IN.

WE HAVE DELIBERATELY BROAD BRUSHED THE POST FRONTAL SNOW SHOWERS
OVER THE WEST COAST AND INTERIOR ZONES. THE MODELS...THE ETA IN
PARTICULAR...APPEAR TO HAVE THIS A BIT UNDERDONE.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
BLIZZARD WATCH FOR AKZ201-AKZ202-AKZ214.

WINTER STORM WATCH FOR AKZ217-AKZ219.

BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ207-AKZ208-AKZ209-AKZ210-AKZ211-AKZ212-
AKZ213.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ206-AKZ216-AKZ218-AKZ221.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ225-PKZ230-PKZ235.
&&

DJH FEB 06

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: February 24, 1:36 PM AST to February 25, 3:36 AM AST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: February 25, 2:56 AM AST to 6:36 AM 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 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: 5493061, 5493062.