A storm force low rapidly developed to the southwest with a very strong frontal system on the afternoon of Saturday, January 6th. The Low center made landfall near Cape Decision Saturday evening at 979 MB.
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.
The episode as NWS AJK wrote it up.
A storm force low rapidly developed to the southwest with a very strong frontal system on the afternoon of Saturday, January 6th. The Low center made landfall near Cape Decision Saturday evening at 979 MB. Very strong surface pressure gradients were ahead of this Storm. Warm air was able to overrun along the northern quadrants of this Low for heavy snow Sunday morning. A secondary Low developed in the Central Gulf pushing more warm, moist air over the arctic front Sunday afternoon and evening, Jan. 7th.
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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 6, 6:00 AM AKST, 10 hours earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1100 AM AST SAT JAN 6 2007
.SYNOPSIS...
.SHORT RANGE...980 MB LOW 600 NM S OF SEWARD AT THIS TIME
HAS NE TRACK WITH LARGE SCALE CIRCULATION DEVELOPING.
TRACK SHOULD HAVE 975 MB LOW WITH NE TRACK ONSHORE OVER
CAPE DECISION ABOUT 10Z TONIGHT...NOTE THE 12Z GFS190
IS USED FOR TRACK. SHORT RANGE ENSEMBLE FORECAST DEPICTS
A WIDE SPREAD OF SURFACE PRESSURE OVER MOST OF PANHANDLE
FOR THE LANDFALL OF THIS LOW. GFS 12Z RUN IS SIMILAR TO
SREF MEAN.
AFTER LANDFALL THE GFS SOLN SEEMS FAST TO REDEVELOP
THE LOW INLAND ABOUT 100 MI ESE OF DEASE LAKE IN B.C....
THE SURFACE LOW FILL SLOWLY IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL
PANHANDLE DAYTIME SUNDAY.
.LONG RANGE...MODELS IN QUITE GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE LONG
RANGE. VERY FEW CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE CURRENT PACKAGE.
MONDAY MORNING THE UPPER LEVEL TROF OVER THE NORTHERN GULF WILL
CONTINUE TO DIVE TO THE SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE PANHANDLE AS THE JET
FAVORS A RIDGE DEVELOPING IN THE WESTERN GULF. AS THE RIDGE
BUILDS TO THE EAST AND THE TROF SLIDES INTO BRITISH
COLUMBIA...PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN TO SHUT OFF FROM NORTHWEST TO
SOUTHEAST MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY.
A STRONG ARCTIC SURFACE HIGH STRENGTHENING TO 1047 MB OVER YUKON
WILL ALSO DROP TO THE SOUTHEAST TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. 850MB
TEMPERATURES AS COLD AS -30C ALSO TRAVERSE ALONG THE CANADIAN
BORDER MEANING TEMPERATURES FALLING AS LOW AS THE SINGLE DIGITS
IN THE NORTHERN AND THE TEENS AND LOW 20S IN THE SOUTH.
ADDITIONALLY...STRONG OFFSHORE FLOW WILL KEEP CONDITIONS MAINLY
CLEAR AND DRY BUT WITH SOME STRONG OUTFLOW WINDS TO CONTEND WITH.
THE COLD AND DRY PATTERN FINALLY STARTS TO BREAK DOWN ON THURSDAY
WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW NEAR KODIAK. AN ASSOCIATED FRONT
PUSHES INTO THE CENTRAL GULF THURSDAY AFTERNOON WHILE NUDGING THE
UPPER LEVEL RIDGE EAST INTO WESTERN CANADA. WARMER AIR STARTS
ADVECTING INTO THE AREA FROM THE SOUTH AHEAD OF THIS FRONT...
HOWEVER...THE PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT WILL
CERTAINLY BE SNOWFALL IN THE ONSET. THIS FRONT STALLS ALONG THE
PANHANDLE COAST FRIDAY THEN DISSIPATES ON SATURDAY.
MAIN CONCERN IS THE STRENGTH AND TIMING OF THIS FRONT. WITH A
STRONG ARCTIC RIDGE PARKED OVER THE FORECAST AREA...THE GFS MODEL
TENDS TO HAVE A BIAS IN BREAKING DOWN THE RIDGE TOO RAPIDLY. FOR
NOW WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THE GFS TIMING...AS DID THE PREVIOUS
FORECAST PACKAGE.
.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...WINTER STORM WATCH...ZONES 21...24...25
...SNOW ADVY...ZONES 20...22...AND ERN ZONE 29
...WIND ADVY...ZONES 27...28...AND WRN ZONE 29
MARINE...STORM...PKZ041-310
...GALE...PKZ035-036-042-043
...SCA...ALL REMAINING WATERS4 high wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The Annette NWS-WSO ASOS (PANT) had a peak wind of 49 KT at 2353 AKST on 1/6. Gusts to 47 KT occured at Hydaburg (AWOS) at 2216 AKST. The Craig Spotter reported a gust of 60 MPH sometime in the 24 hours preceeding |0800 AKST 1/7.
Annette had a peak wind of 49 knots at 2353 on January sixth. Gusts to 47 knots occurred at Hydaburg at 2216.
Hyder measured 17.0 inches new snowfall for 24 hours ending at 0800 AKST on 1/7.
Cape Spencer RAMOS which is quality controlled by NDBC measured sustained 57 KT G 64 KT at 0623 Akst 1/7. (Also a CO-OP observer at Pelican measured 8.0 inches of new snowfall for 24 hours ending at 0800 AKST 1/7.)
The trained spotter at Craig observed a wind gust to 60 MPH at 2230 AKST on Sunday, 1/7.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 2007
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: 10585, 10586, 10571, 10578, 12662.