Extreme Cold in Alaska, December 27 to 31, 2008

Name: Extreme Cold in Alaska, December 27 to 31, 2008
Start: 2008-12-27T00:00
End: 2008-12-31T23:59
Location: Alaska

December 27 to 31, 2008 · NWS AFG · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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 significant cold snap developed across interior Alaska on December 27th and continued into January. A cold upper level low across Siberia moved into northern Alaska on December 26th, and remained in place through the end of the month. Although no new temperature records were established, it brought the first widespread significant cold to interior Alaska. Temperatures at the Fairbanks International Airport dropped to 40 below on the 28th, and reached a low of 43 degrees on the 31st. The cold temperatures produced significant ice fog in Fairbanks, and the visibilities were frequently reduced to 1/4 mile or less in Fairbanks on New Year's Eve. The coldest temperatures were observed on the Yukon Flats, where temperatures dropped into the 50s below on New Year's Eve.

Here are some of the coldest temperatures that were observed through December 31st:

Zone 218: |Arctic Village: 49 below

Zone 219: |Bettles: 45 below

Zone 221: |Nenana: 44 below

Zone 222: |North Pole KJNP: 55 below|Fairbanks International Airport: 43 below

Zone 223: |Delta Junction: 44 below

Zone 225: |Denali Park HQ: 34 below

Zone 226: |Dry Creek: 50 below|Chisana: 47 below

All of these low temperatures were observed on either December 30th or the 31st.

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 Dec 26, 3:06 PM AKST, 8 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 26, 3:06 PM AKST, 8 hours 54 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
306 PM AKST FRI DEC 26 2008

.DISCUSSION...

GFS/ECMWF RUNS IN GENERALLY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE
MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK WITH DECENT CONTINUITY WITH THE
PREVIOUS RUNS.

UPPER RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD OVER THE WESTERN
BERING WITH A BLOCKING HIGH DEVELOPING BY 12Z MON.
THIS WILL LIKELY BE A VERY STABLE PATTERN WITH RIDGING
OR A BLOCKING HIGH PERSISTING OVER THE BERING...LOCKING
COLD NORTHERLY FLOW IN PLACE OVER THE MAINLAND.

MODEL SOLUTIONS BEGIN TO DIVERGE SOME LATER NEXT
WEEK...BUT BOTH ECMWF/GFS INDICATING PERSISTENCE OF
A COLD PATTERN OVER THE MAINLAND. CERTAINLY AT THIS
TIME THERE IS NO INDICATION OF ANY END TO THE COLD REGIME.

WIND CHILL/WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN POSTED
FOR HIGHER SUMMITS OF ZONES 219-220-221-222. WINDS
EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO 30 MPH LATE TONIGHT. PROGS
INDICATE SUMMIT TEMPERATURES OF AROUND -15F WHICH
SHOULD SUPPORT WIND CHILL TO 40 BELOW. WITH RECENT
FLUFFY SNOW...LOW VISIBILITY IN BLOWING SNOW IS
LIKELY AS WELL.

LITTLE CHANGE IS EXPECTED IN THE PRESSURE GRADIENT NEAR
AND SOUTH OF THE ALASKA RANGE. LOCALLY GUSTY NORTH WINDS WILL
CONTINUE IN ALASKA RANGE PASSES.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ219-AKZ220-AKZ221-AKZ222.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ219-AKZ220-AKZ221-AKZ222-AKZ225.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ220.
&&

RF DEC 08

Event by event

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

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Middle Tanana Valley

When: December 27, 12:00 AM AKST to December 31, 11:59 PM AKST
Where: Middle Tanana Valley forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, S. Slopes of Ern Brooks Range

When: December 27, 12:00 AM AKST to December 31, 11:59 PM AKST
Where: S. Slopes of Ern Brooks Range forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Upper Koyukuk Valley

When: December 27, 12:00 AM AKST to December 31, 11:59 PM AKST
Where: Upper Koyukuk Valley forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Yukon Flats Nearby Uplands

When: December 27, 12:00 AM AKST to December 31, 11:59 PM AKST
Where: Yukon Flats Nearby Uplands forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Wrn Tanana Vly Wrn Yukon Vly

When: December 27, 12:00 AM AKST to December 31, 11:59 PM AKST
Where: Wrn Tanana Vly Wrn Yukon Vly forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Deltana and Tanana

When: December 27, 12:00 AM AKST to December 31, 11:59 PM AKST
Where: Deltana and Tanana forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Upr Tanana Vly Fortymile

When: December 27, 12:00 AM AKST to December 31, 11:59 PM AKST
Where: Upr Tanana Vly Fortymile forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Denali

When: December 27, 12:00 AM AKST to December 31, 11:59 PM AKST
Where: Denali forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng

When: December 27, 12:00 AM AKST to December 31, 11:59 PM AKST
Where: Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

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 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, December 2008

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: 141922, 141923, 141924, 141925, 141926, 141927, 141928, 141929, 141930.