Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Arctic Coast
- When
- February 22, 5:53 AM AKST to February 23, 12:56 PM AKST
- Where
- Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Extreme Cold in Alaska, February 22 to 23, 2007
With very cold air over the North Slope, east winds increased to 15 to 25 mph on the 22nd over the Western Arctic Coast, creating Extreme Wind Chills until clouds moved in during late morning of the 23rd, raising temperatures. The coldest Wind Chills were reported were: Wainwright ASOS - 63 F; Point Lay AWOS -70 F.
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.
With very cold air over the North Slope, east winds increased to 15 to 25 mph on the 22nd over the Western Arctic Coast, creating Extreme Wind Chills until clouds moved in during late morning of the 23rd, raising temperatures. The coldest Wind Chills were reported were: Wainwright ASOS - 63 F; Point Lay AWOS -70 F.
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 22, 12:00 AM AKST, 5 hours 53 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 22, 12:00 AM AKST, 5 hours 53 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 500 AM AST THU FEB 22 2007 .DISCUSSION...DEEP COLD 495 DM UPPER LOW NOW CENTERED JUST S OF MACKENZIE DELTA INLAND E OF OLD CROW. ONLY MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH IT ARE MID/HIGH CLOUDS FROM SHORT-WAVE DROPPING S ON BACK-SIDE OF IT OVER CENTRAL INTERIOR. MODELS DIFFER TO SOME DEGREE IN SHORT-TERM ON PLACEMENT AND DURATION OF UPPER LOW...BUT ACTUALLY RESOLVE THESE AND COME TOGETHER BETTER IN MID/LONGER TERM. NAM AND ECMWF KEEP UPPER LOW IN PLACE THROUGH SAT OVER YUKON/ALCAN BORDER AREA...WHILE GFS SPLITS LOW FRI WITH MAIN PORTION RETREATING BACK NWRD OVER ARCTIC IN RESPONSE TO SHORT-WAVE MOVING ESE FROM SIBERIA UNDERCUTTING IT. AT THIS TIME STILL PREFER NAM/ECMWF SOLUTION...AS IT IS MORE CONSISTENT AND INITIALIZES A LITTLE BETTER. COLD -30 TO -34C AIR THEN WILL REMAIN OVER ERN HALF N SLOPE AND CENTRAL/ERN INTERIOR UNTIL ABOUT 00Z SUN. LITTLE IN THE WAY OF CLOUDS WILL KEEP TEMPS. VERY COLD THESE AREAS THROUGH THEN. FIRST SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO PATTERN WILL BE A SHORT-WAVE ALL MODELS FORECAST TO SLIDE E FROM SIBERIA OVER CHUKCHI SEA FRI...THEN SE TOWARD WRN GULF AK/S-CENTRAL AK SAT. THIS WILL BRING SOME -SN TO MOST OF W COAST FRI...AND AT LEAST SOME FLURRIES TO WRN INTERIOR FRI NIGHT. RESIDUAL CLOUDS FROM THIS AND WEAK DYNAMICS WILL BRING CLOUDS OVER INTERIOR E TO ABOUT PARC-PAFA SAT...AND POSSIBLY SOME FLURRIES. THIS WOULD ALSO MODERATE TEMPS. A BIT. MODELS ALSO CONSISTENT AND AGREE IN SHOWING MUCH STRONGER WAVE WITH STRONG CONSOLIDATED WRLY JET FLOW ROARING E FROM SIBERIA SUN/MON. THIS WOULD BRING MORE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALLS TO W COAST/WRN INTERIOR SUN/SUN NIGHT...AND TO INTERIOR MON. THIS KIND OF STRONG WAVE WITH FAST CYCLONIC WSWRLY LOW-MID LEVEL FLOW COULD BE HEAVY SNOW PRODUCER FOR AREAS LIKE PATA- PAFA. ONLY PROBLEM IS TRAJECTORY OF THIS FLOW IS MOSTLY OVER ICE-COVERED BERING...AND MOISTURE AVAILABILITY WOULD LIKELY BE LIMITED. BUT SHOULD BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR AT LEAST 1-2 INCHES SNOW ANYWAY FOR CENTRAL INTERIOR MON E TO ABOUT SALCHA. MODERATION OF TEMPS. WILL BE FULLY UNDERWAY FOR INTERIOR SAT. EVENING THROUGH MON. WITH INCREASING CLOUD COVER AND RETREAT OF COLDEST AIR E INTO CANADA. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ225-AKZ226. && MAR FEB 07
Event by event
1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
- Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Strong Wind in Wisconsin, February 22, 2007
- High Wind in Virginia, February 22, 2007
- Heavy Snow in New York, February 22 to 23, 2007
- Lake-Effect Snow in Pennsylvania, February 22 to 23, 2007
- Winter Weather in Idaho, February 22, 2007
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Nevada, February 22 to 23, 2007
- Heavy Snow in California, February 22 to 23, 2007
- High Wind in North Carolina, February 22 to 23, 2007
- Winter Weather in Washington, February 22, 2007
- Flooding in Indiana, February 22 to 28, 2007
- Strong Wind in American Samoa, February 22, 2007
- Strong Wind in California, February 22, 2007
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 2007
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: 9949.