Blizzard in Alaska, January 10 to 11, 2007

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, January 10 to 11, 2007
Start: 2007-01-10T09:53
End: 2007-01-11T02:56
Location: Alaska

January 10 to 11, 2007 · NWS AFG · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

|Zone 213: likely occurred at Savoonga AWOS, where wind gusts reached 55 knots (63 mph) and Gambell AWOS, where wind gusts reached 50 knots (57 mph).

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 AFG wrote it up.

A large low pressure center over the southwest Bering Sea sent several strong occlusions north over western Alaska on the 10th through the morning of the 11th, producing blizzard conditions:|Zone 207: likely occurred at Kivalina ASOS where wind gusts reached 36 knots (41 mph).|Zone 209: occurred at Kotzebue where wind gusts reached 51 knots (59 mph), came close to criteria at Selawik AWOS, where wind gusts reach 34 knots (39 mph);|Zone 211: occurred at Nome where wind gusts reached 42 knots (48 mph); likely at Golovin AWOS where wind gusts reached 57 knots (66 mph), though visibility was missing during this period.|Zone 213: likely occurred at Savoonga AWOS, where wind gusts reached 55 knots (63 mph) and Gambell AWOS, where wind gusts reached 50 knots (57 mph).

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 Jan 10, 7:53 AM AKST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 10, 7:53 AM AKST, 2 hours before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
1253 PM AST WED JAN 10 2007

.DISCUSSION...
BROAD LOW PRESSURE ALOFT OVER THE BERING SEA AND RIDGE ALONG ABOUT
135W SHOULD PERSIST FOR NEXT WEEK AT LEAST...WITH OCCASIONALLY
STORMY WEATHER OVER THE WEST COAST AND WESTERN NORTH SLOPE...WHILE
NEARLY ALL AREAS WILL HAVE ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS.

OLD OCCLUSION STRETCHED OUT ALONG ABOUT 160W AND LARGELY
DISSIPATED. FAST MOVING WAVE PLOUGHING NORTH ALONG ABOUT 166W
APPEARS TO BE MUCH BETTER DEVELOPED THAN ANY MODEL FORECAST.
CURRENT MOVEMENT SHOULD TAKE INTO THROUGH THE BERING STRAIT LATE
TONIGHT. 1050 MB HIGH OVER THE CENTRAL YUKON TERRITORY MOVING
SOUTHEAST. 1038 MB HIGH OVER THE HIGH ARCTIC BUILDING
SOUTHEASTWARD TOWARD THE MACKENZIE DELTA THU NIGHT.

MODELS DIFFER IN DETAILS ON FEATURES RIGHT OFF THE BAT AND GET
WORSE WITH TIME. NEXT LOW IMPACTING WEST COAST FRI OR FRIDAY NIGHT
BUT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE MUCH OF A WIND MAKER.

NORTH SLOPE...WILL ISSUE A BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FOR ZONE 201
STARTING LATER TONIGHT. WINDS INCREASING ELSEWHERE THU AND THU
NIGHT AS HIGH BUILDS INTO EASTERN BEAUFORT SEA.

WEST COAST...FAST MOVING WAVE JUST SW OF NUNIVAK
ISLAND AT 20Z WILL KEEP STORMY CONDITIONS GOING OVER COASTAL ZONES
NEXT 6-18 HOURS. WE HAVE NOT MADE ANY DRAMATIC CHANGES IN
WARNING/ADVISORY PACKAGE...WITH WARNING EXPIRING IN ZONE 214 THIS
AFTERNOON. BASED ON LIMITED SNOWFALL THUS FAR...WE WILL CNCL THE
ADVISORY FOR ZONE 215. ANOTHER WAVE

INTERIOR...TEMPS HAVE WARMED UP IN ZONE 223 SUCH SO WIND CHILL
ADVISORY IS ENDED. WIND CHILL ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR EAGLE
AREA...ASOS TEMPS TOO WARM. SNOWFALL WITH WARM ADVECTION WILL BE
LIMITED DUE IN PART TO MARKED ANTICYCLONIC FLOW THRU MID TROP.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR AKZ216.

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

SNOW ADVISORY FOR AKZ217.

WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ224.

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ208.

BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FOR AKZ201.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-
PKZ230-PKZ235.
&&

RT JAN 07

Event by event

4 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: January 10, 9:53 AM AKST to 3:53 PM AKST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: January 10, 11:55 AM AKST to 3:53 PM AKST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Srn Seward Peninsula Coast

When: January 10, 1:36 PM AKST to 5:13 PM AKST
Where: Srn Seward Peninsula Coast forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: January 10, 2:56 PM AKST to January 11, 2:56 AM AKST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

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 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, January 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: 5816, 5817, 5818, 5819.