Extreme Cold in Alaska, March 11 to 14, 2007

Name: Extreme Cold in Alaska, March 11 to 14, 2007
Start: 2007-03-11T08:00
End: 2007-03-14T03:00
Location: Alaska

March 11 to 14, 2007 · NWS AFG · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

|Extreme Wind Chills were reported at:|Zone 203: Deadhorse ASOS -65 F; west winds 15 to 20 mph. |Zone 206: Sagwon MesoNet station -69 F; west winds 15 to 25 mph.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

Persistent high pressure over the Chukchi Sea with a cold airmass over northern Alaska produced extreme wind chills over portions of the North Slope on the 11th until early on the 14th.|Extreme Wind Chills were reported at:|Zone 203: Deadhorse ASOS -65 F; west winds 15 to 20 mph. |Zone 205: Umiat MesoNet station -63 F; west winds 20 to 30 mph.|Zone 206: Sagwon MesoNet station -69 F; west winds 15 to 25 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 Mar 11, 7:50 AM AKST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 11, 7:50 AM AKST, 10 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
150 PM ADT SUN MAR 11 2007

.DISCUSSION...THE BLOCKING PATTERN DOMINATING NORTHERN ALASKAS
WEATHER REMAINS UNYIELDING. 500/700MB PATTERN HAS CLOSED HIGH OVER
THE CENTRAL BERING SEA...A CLOSED LOW OVER THE SEA OF OKHOTSK...AND A
LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER MAINLAND ALASKA CENTERED ALONG 150W. NO
SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THIS BASIC PATTERN EXPECTED THROUGH THE
WORK-WEEK.

NORTH SLOPE...WEAK TROUGH ALOFT IS MOVING ONSHORE FROM THE NORTH.
HIGH-LATITUDE POES SHOWS ONLY A FEW CLOUDS...WHICH SEEMS
REASONABLE SINCE THIS FEATURE HAS BEEN ON A VERY DRY TRAJECTORY.
SURFACE TEMPERATURES WILL MODERATE WITH THE INCREASE IN
CLOUDS...THIS PROCESS IS ALREADY UNDERWAY IN ZONE 201. COLDEST
TEMPERATURES ALONG THE COAST TONIGHT WILL BE IN THE EAST WHERE
OFFSHORE FLOW IS TAPPING INTO THE TRULY CHILLY AIR OF ZONES
205/206. WIND CHILLS ARE CLOSE TO ADVISORY CRITERIA...BUT NOT
QUITE THERE. GIVEN THE INCREASING CLOUDS AND ASSOCIATED
RADIATIONAL WARMING...WILL NOT ISSUE ANY ADVISORIES FOR TONIGHT.
ANY SNOW WILL BE LIGHT WITH LITTLE OR NO ACCUMULATION.

WEST COAST...GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS ALOFT ARE NOT MAKING IT DOWN TO
THE GROUND VERY EFFICIENTLY EXCEPT IN A FEW TOPOGRAPHICALLY-FAVORED
LOCATIONS. TEMPERATURES GENERALLY ARE NOT LOW ENOUGH FOR WIND
CHILLS. THERE IS A LOCAL WESTERLY ACCELERATION OF WINDS AT
DEERING AND BUCKLAND AS THE WIND HITS THE TOPOGRAPHY...BUT THESE
WINDS ARE NOT WIDESPREAD ENOUGH FOR AN ADVISORY IN MARINE AREA
215.

INTERIOR...PESKY WRAP-AROUND MOISTURE HAS ENTERED FROM THE GULF
OF ALASKA. RESULT IS SOME CLOUDS AND LIGHT SNOW IN EASTERN
INTERIOR AS WELL AS A MODERATION OF THE TEMPERATURES DUE TO
RADIATION EFFECTS. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS NOT POSSIBLE IN THIS
SCENARIO. WINDS ARE MUCH LESS OF AN ISSUE TONIGHT THAN IN RECENT
DAYS DUE TO MODERATION OF THE GRADIENT BETWEEN THE WEAKENING HIGH
NORTH OF THE BROOKS RANGE AND THE LOW NEAR YAKUTAT. BIG STORY IS
THE NEXT SHORT WAVE TROUGH DIGGING DOWN THE BACK SIDE OF THE MEAN
TROUGH OVER THE INTERIOR. THIS FEATURE IS EXPECTED TO BRING 850MB
TEMPERATURES AS COLD AS -30C BY TUE. SOME MOISTURE WILL LIKELY
LINGER OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR FOR A FEW DAYS THIS WEEK...BUT
AREAS WHICH CAN REMAIN CLOUD-FREE MAY HAVE A SHOT AT NEAR-RECORD
LOW TEMPERATURES. LIGHT WINDS WILL HELP FACILITATE RADIATIONAL
COOLING IN CLOUD-FREE AREAS.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

ES MAR 07

Event by event

3 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R

When: March 11, 8:00 AM AKST to March 14, 2:00 AM AKST
Where: N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: March 13, 3:53 AM AKST to 10:53 AM AKST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W

When: March 13, 9:00 AM AKST to March 14, 3:00 AM AKST
Where: N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet

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

Every storm in Alaska in 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, March 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: 12673, 12671, 12672.