Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, January 25 to 27, 2007

Name: Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, January 25 to 27, 2007
Start: 2007-01-25T01:30
End: 2007-01-27T18:00
Location: Alaska

January 25 to 27, 2007 · NWS AFC · 8 events in 7 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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.

An intense north Pacific storm moved into the Eastern Bering Sea the morning of January 26th. This storm produced strong wind and snow as the associated front pushed into the south central region of Alaska. Around the north to west side of this storm strong north to west wind combined with snow produced blizzard conditions in the Pribilof Islands.

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 25, 12:00 AM AKST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 25, 12:00 AM AKST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 AM AST THU JAN 25 2007

.DISCUSSION...
A STRONG LOW SOUTH OF COLD BAY IS PRODUCING BLIZZARD CONDITIONS FOR
MUCH THE AREA BORDERING THE EASTERN BERING SEA. STRONG WINDS WILL
REACH THE GULF COAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY.
THIS LOW WILL CROSS THE AKPEN NEAR COLD BAY EARLY FRIDAY  MORNING...
WEAKENING AS IT MOVES INTO THE BERING SEA. THIS WILL PRECIPITATE A
SUBTLE BUT IMPORTANT SHIFT OF THE PATTERN. THE MEAN UPPER TROUGH
POSITION THAT HAS BEEN ALONG THE WEST COAST OF ALASKA FOR THE LAST
COUPLE OF WEEKS WILL SHIFT WEST...AND THE WEST COAST RIDGE WILL
STRENGTHEN INTO A FULL LATITUDE FEATURE. THIS WILL USHER IN A WARMER
REGIME FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA AS SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT
WILL BE STRONG AND PRONOUNCED. TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY BECOME MUCH
ABOVE NORMAL AND REMAIN SUCH FOR MOST OF NEXT WEEK.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING 125 155 161 181 185 195.
MARINE...STORM WARNING 120 130 138.
  GALE WARNING 125 132 140 150 155 160 170 171 172 179 180 185.
  HVY FZG SPRY 130 138 140 141 160 165 179 185.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

LUDWIG JAN 07

Event by event

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

Blizzard, Pribilof Islands

When: January 25, 1:30 AM AKST to January 27, 6:00 PM AKST
Where: Pribilof Islands forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, Bristol Bay

When: January 25, 5:00 AM AKST to 2:00 PM AKST
Where: Bristol Bay forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, Kuskokwim Delta

When: January 25, 11:00 AM AKST to January 26, 5:00 PM AKST
Where: Kuskokwim Delta forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, Eastern Aleutians

When: January 25, 2:30 PM AKST to 8:30 PM AKST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: January 25, 4:00 PM AKST to January 26, 12:30 AM AKST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Measured: 83 kt (96 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, Nern P.W. Snd

When: January 25, 4:00 PM AKST to 10:00 PM AKST
Where: Nern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: January 25, 7:25 PM AKST to January 26, 5:00 AM AKST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, Central Aleutians

When: January 27, 3:15 AM AKST to 1:15 PM AKST
Where: Central Aleutians forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

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.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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: 6537, 6555, 6556, 6546, 6535, 6536, 6533, 6549.