Blizzard in Alaska, January 11 to 13, 2007

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, January 11 to 13, 2007
Start: 2007-01-11T21:02
End: 2007-01-13T00:51
Location: Alaska

January 11 to 13, 2007 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A Weather Front moving north over western Alaska likely produced Blizzard conditions as reported by the Wainwright ASOS and Point Lay AWOS.

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.

A Weather Front moving north over western Alaska likely produced Blizzard conditions as reported by the Wainwright ASOS and Point Lay 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 Jan 11, 9:02 AM AKST, 12 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 11, 9:02 AM AKST, 12 hours before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
202 PM AST THU JAN 11 2007

.DISCUSSION...

UPPER AIR: LONG WAVE RIDGE WITH AXIS OVER SOUTHEAST ALASKA TO
NORTHEASTERN ALASKA WILL PERSIST THROUGH SUN. SHORTWAVES WILL MOVE
EAST INTO THE WESTERN HALF OF THE RIDGE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL
DAYS. A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE BERING SEA WILL
PERSIST THROUGH SUN.

SURFACE: A 997 MB LOW OVER THE CHUKCHI SEA WILL DISSIPATE AS IT
MOVES NORTHWEST TO NEAR WRANGEL ISLAND TONIGHT. AN ASSOCIATED
STATIONARY FRONT OVER THE WESTERN INTERIOR WILL BEGIN TO MOVE WEST
LATE TONIGHT. BY FRI AFTERNOON THE FRONT WILL EXTEND NORTH TO
SOUTH OVER THE NULATO HILLS AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA. A TROUGH WILL
MOVE NORTH OF NORTON SOUND THU EVENING AND NORTH OVER THE CHUKCHI
SEA FRI. A 998 MB LOW WILL FORM OVER THE ALASKA PENINSULA FRI
AFTERNOON AND WEAKEN AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST TO THE CENTRAL ALASKA
RANGE BY MID DAY SAT. ANOTHER LOW WILL MOVE NORTH OVER THE NULATO
HILLS TONIGHT AND SAT THEN DISSIPATE SAT NIGHT. STRONG HIGH
PRESSURE OVER THE ARCTIC OCEAN CENTERED NEAR 80N/150W WILL PERSIST
THROUGH SUN.

NORTH SLOPE: A BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY WILL CONTINUE OVER ZONE 201
UNTIL FRI AT 6 AM. EAST WINDS WILL INCREASE FROM ZONE 202 TO 205
TONIGHT AS GRADIENT BETWEEN HIGH PRESSURE OVER ARCTIC AND LOW OVER
THE CHUKCHI SEA STRENGTHENS. LOW VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING SNOW WILL
LIKELY REACH ADVISORY LEVELS OVER ZONE 202 EARLY FRI MORNING THEN
OVER ZONE 204 LATER. ZONE 205 HAS A CHANCE OF REACHING WIND CHILL
ADVISORY CRITERIA LATE TONIGHT. WINDS SHOULD BEGIN TO DIMINISH BY
SAT AFTERNOON. ONLY FLURRIES ARE EXPECTED...THEREFORE BLOWING SNOW
WILL BE LIMITED...BUT WILL PRODUCE ADVISORY LEVELS.

INTERIOR: DISSIPATING FRONTAL BOUNDARIES WILL LIKELY BE THE FOCUS
FOR ANY ACCUMULATING SNOW OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. SOUTHERLY
FLOW OVER THE ALASKA RANGE WILL KEEP MUCH OF THE AREA TO THE
IMMEDIATE NORTH OF THE RANGE FROM HAVING ANYTHING MORE THAN
FLURRIES. OTHER AREAS TO THE NORTH AND WEST WILL HAVE AMOUNTS
GENERALLY LESS THAN 2 INCHES TONIGHT THROUGH SAT.

WEST COAST: WINDS WILL BE DIMINISHING TONIGHT AND FRI...BUT WITH
THE EXCEPTION OF BRIEF GUSTS ASSOCIATED WITH TROUGH MOVING NORTH
OF NORTON SOUND TONIGHT THEN OVER THE CHUKCHI SEA ON FRI. SNOWFALL
WILL BE GENERALLY LESS THAN 1 INCH.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FOR AKZ201-AKZ202.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ220-PKZ225.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-
PKZ230-PKZ235-PKZ240-PKZ245.
&&

DA JAN 07

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast

When: January 11, 9:02 PM AKST to January 13, 12:51 AM AKST
Where: Western Arctic Coast 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: 5820.