Blizzard in Alaska, January 20 to 22, 2006

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, January 20 to 22, 2006
Start: 2006-01-20T09:00
End: 2006-01-22T04:30
Location: Alaska

January 20 to 22, 2006 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A building intense arctic high pushed south across the Bering sea beginning January 19th. As this high pushed south, strong low pressure intensified in the Gulf of Alaska through January 22nd.

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 AFC wrote it up.

A building intense arctic high pushed south across the Bering sea beginning January 19th. As this high pushed south, strong low pressure intensified in the Gulf of Alaska through January 22nd. This resulted in a strong north to east gradient across the Bering sea that migrated to the Alaska Peninsula by Saturday afternoon. Strong wind coupled with snow resulted in blowing snow and blizzard conditions in the Pribilof Islands on the 20th and 21st. The Blizzard conditions moved to the Alaska Peninsula by the afternoon of the 21st and subsided by 430 AM on the 22nd.

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 Jan 20, 5:00 AM AST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 20, 5:00 AM AST, 4 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 AM AST FRI JAN 20 2006

.DISCUSSION...
A DEEPENING UPPER LEVEL POLAR LOW OVER NORTHERN ALASKA CONTINUES TO
DIG ITS TROUGH SOUTH AS A SHORTWAVE ROUNDS THE BOTTOM. TROUGH WILL
EXTEND SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIAN CHAIN LATER TODAY AS THE FIRST OF TWO
SHORTWAVES FROM OVER THE NORTH PACIFIC MOVE NORTHEAST AND ALONG THE
FRONT SIDE OF THE TROUGH. THE SECOND SHORTWAVE WILL ENTER THE TROUGH
SATURDAY. BOTH LOWS COUPLED WITH A HIGH IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC WILL
HELP PULL THE TROUGH OVER SOUTH CENTRAL BY SAT NIGHT. THE TROUGH ALSO
PULLS NORTH ON THE POLAR JET...PLACING THE JET/S LEFT EXIT REGION
OVER THE NORTHERN GULF SATURDAY EVENING. THE RIDGE OVER THE BERING
SEA IS PUSHED SLIGHTLY WEST BY THE DEEPENING TROUGH BEFORE A LOW BY
JAPAN MOVES TOWARDS SHEMYA AND PUSHES IT BACK EAST TOWARD WESTERN
ALASKA BEGINNING SATURDAY EVENING. THIS RIDGE WILL PUSH THE UPPER LOW
OVER SOUTH CENTRAL EAST ON MONDAY.

AT THE SURFACE IN SOUTH CENTRAL...COLD SURFACE TEMPERATURES THAT HAVE
FILTERED DOWN FROM THE POLAR LOW UP NORTH AND WARM ADVECTION FROM THE
DISSIPATING LOW IN THE SOUND HELPED KEEP LIGHT SNOW AROUND THE
ANCHORAGE BOWL AND TURNAGAIN ARM AREAS THROUGH THE NIGHT. NOT SEEING
ANY REASON FOR THE CONDITIONS TO CHANGE SO HAVE KEPT LIGHT SNOW IN
THE FORECAST FOR THESE AREAS FOR TODAY. A LOW SOUTH OF KODIAK WILL
MOVE NORTHEAST AND INTO THE SOUND LATE TONIGHT...BRINGING MODERATE
WINDS AND SNOW TO SOUTH CENTRAL. ANOTHER STRONGER LOW...NOW SOUTH OF
THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS...FOLLOWS QUICKLY IN IT/S PATH ENTERING THE
SOUND SATURDAY NIGHT. THIS SYSTEM LOOKS TO HAVE ALL THE KEY
INGREDIENTS IN BOTH UPPER AND LOWER LEVELS FOR A HEAVIER SNOW EVENT
THAN TONIGHTS SYSTEM. UKMET...GFS AND NAM MODELS ARE ALL IN VERY GOOD
AGREEMENT AND CAN THEREFORE PUT A HIGHER CONFIDENCE IN THIS OUTCOME.

AT THE SURFACE OUT WEST...A SERIES OF LOWS SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIAN
CHAIN AND THE PERSISTANT HIGH THAT HAS BEEN RESIDING OVER EASTERN
RUSSIA HAVE PRODUCED A STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE BERING SEA.
GALE AND STORM FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER MUCH OF THE
ALEUTIAN CHAIN THROUGH SATURDAY WHEN THE HIGH DROPS SOUTH IN THE
ADVANCE OF ANOTHER LOW MOVING EAST FROM JAPAN. THE ASSOCIATED FRONT
OF THE LOW WILL MOVE ACROSS THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS BEGINNING ON SUNDAY
PUSHING THE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER WESTERN ALASKA
MONDAY...CLEARING SKIES AND DROPPING TEMPERATURES IN THE INTERIOR.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE
MARINE...STORM 172 176
      ...GALE 155 160 165 170 171 175 179 180
      ...HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 121 130 140 150 155 160
             165 170 171 172 175 176 179
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

LR JAN 06

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 20, 5:00 AM AST, 4 hours before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
5 AM AST FRI JAN 20 2006

AKZ101-111-121-210200-

...SNOW ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 8 PM TONIGHT TO 8 PM SUNDAY
    NIGHT FOR THE COOK INLET AREA...

A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS WILL MOVE INTO THE PRINCE WILLIAM
SOUND AREA TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY. COLD AIR WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION
WELL INTO NEXT WEEK AND THE WIND ALOFT IS FROM THE SOUTHWEST BECOMING
SOUTH. THESE ARE THE USUAL INGREDIENTS FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL FOR
ANCHORAGE...THE KENAI PENINSULA...AND THE MATANUSKA VALLEY.

SNOWFALL WILL INCREASE TONIGHT AND SHOULD PERSIST INTO SATURDAY FOR
THESE REGIONS. ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT THE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY
SNOWFALL WILL BE DRY AND FLUFFY BUT WILL ADD UP POSSIBLY INTO THE
DOUBLE DIGITS IN INCHES. THERE SHOULD BE A BREAK IN THE SNOW SATURDAY
AFTERNOON...BUT THE NEXT LOW IS STRONGER AND MORE MOIST. THE GREATEST
SNOWFALL WILL PROBABLY OCCUR SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY WITH THE
FOLLOWING SYSTEM.

PERSONS SHOULD BEGIN TO PREPARE FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACROSS THE
AREA. DRIVING WILL BE HAZARDOUS ESPECIALLY WITH THE VERY LIGHT SNOW
LIFTED ALOFT HAMPERING VISIBILITY IN TRAFFIC.

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS DEVELOP.

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Pribilof Islands

When: January 20, 9:00 AM AST to January 21, 12:00 PM AST
Where: Pribilof Islands forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Alaska Peninsula

When: January 21, 8:30 AM AST to January 22, 4:30 AM AST
Where: Alaska Peninsula 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, January 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: 5483101, 5483100.