Alaska, 2006

Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, March 10 to 11, 2006

March 10 to 11, 2006 · NWS AFC · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A strong and fast moving storm moved across the Alaska Peninsula into the eastern Bering Sea Saturday. This storm produced strong wind across the eastern Aleutians and the Alaska Peninsula in advance of its front Friday.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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 strong and fast moving storm moved across the Alaska Peninsula into the eastern Bering Sea Saturday. This storm produced strong wind across the eastern Aleutians and the Alaska Peninsula in advance of its front Friday. This front pushed north and east producing strong wind across the Pribilof Islands Friday afternoon then produced Blizzard conditions along the coast of the Kuskokwim Delta late Friday night until Saturday evening.

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 Mar 10, 5:00 AM AST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 10, 5:00 AM AST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 AM AST FRI MAR 10 2006

.DISCUSSION...
THE MODEL ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE SHORT TERM WITH MOST OF THE
DIFFERENCE SOUTH OF OUR AREA BY SATURDAY.  GENERALLY WENT WITH THE
GFS FOR MOST AREAS BUT LEANED A LITTLE TO THE ETA OVER SOUTHCENTRAL.

THE UPPER RIDGE REMAINS NOW CENTERED OVER THE WEST COAST WILL MOVE
INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA AND THE CENTRAL INTERIOR SATURDAY NIGHT AND
SUNDAY WITH UPPER JET MOVING ALONG THE TOP OF THE RIDGE AND THROUGH
SUSITNA VALLEY AND KENAI PENINSULA TODAY AND THOUGH PRINCE WILLIAM
SOUND AND TONIGHT. A DEEP UPPER TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN BERING WILL
CONTINUING DEEPENING AND CENTERAL BERING BY SUNDAY.

A STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT ALONG THE SOUTHCENTRAL GULF COAST FROM THE
LOW MOVING OUT OF SOUTHEAST AND HIGH PRESSURE MOVING INTO THE GULF OF
ALASKA ALONG WITH THE COLD AIR MASS OVER THE CENTRAL INTERIOR HAS SET
UP FOR STRONG WINDS ALONG THE SOUTHCENTRAL COAST TODAY AND WARNING
LEVEL WINDS FOR THE VALDEZ ZONE AND ALONG THE COPPER RIVER DELTA.

A 980 MB LOW WILL CROSS THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE NORTH INTO
THE CENTRAL BERING SEA AND CONTINUE TO DEEPEN INTO THE 970S BY
SATURDAY AND REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY INTO SUNDAY. WINDS WILL
CONTINUE TO BE A PROBLEM THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE BERING AREA AROUND
THIS LOW BEFORE IT START TO WEAKEN SUNDAY.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 181 185.
MARINE...STORMS 155 170 180 179.
         GALES 120 121 129 138 150 160 165 171 172 175 176.

MAR 06

Event by event

3 high wind, 1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Eastern Aleutians

When
March 10, 6:30 AM AST to 10:00 AM AST
Where
Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Measured
79 kt (91 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When
March 10, 1:45 PM AST to 4:00 PM AST
Where
Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured
63 kt (72 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Pribilof Islands

When
March 10, 2:30 PM AST to 4:00 PM AST
Where
Pribilof Islands forecast zone
Measured
72 kt (83 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Blizzard, Kuskokwim Delta

When
March 11, 1:00 AM AST to 6:00 PM AST
Where
Kuskokwim Delta forecast zone
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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 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: 5492781, 5492782, 5492875, 5492874.