A 980 mb low 350 miles south of Saint Lawrence Island brought snowfall to the lower Koyukuk and middle Yukon Valleys. The cooperative observer in Galena observed 7 inches of snow.
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 AFG wrote it up.
A 980 mb low 350 miles south of Saint Lawrence Island brought snowfall to the lower Koyukuk and middle Yukon Valleys. The cooperative observer in Galena observed 7 inches of snow.
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 3, 11:43 AM AKST, 6 hours 17 minutes earlier.
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 1143 AM AKST WED DEC 3 2008 .DISCUSSION... CURRENT SURFACE PROGS THROUGH DAY 3 ARE SIMILAR ON THE MAJOR FEATURES...EXCEPT FOR THE DEEPENING TRIPLE POINT LOW SOUTH OF THE WESTERN ALASKA PENINSULA WHERE THE ECMWF/GFS ARE CARRYING A SOMEWHAT DEEPER CENTER IN THE NEAR TERM THAN THE NAM. GFS/ECMWF RESOLVE THIS LOW MUCH BETTER THAN THE NAM THROUGH 00Z SAT AS IT ROTATES AROUND THE OLD PARENT LOW. GFS/ECMWF SOLUTIONS ARE PREFERRED. BROAD SCALE WIND FIELDS FROM ALL 3 MODELS OVER THE FORECAST AREA ARE GENERALLY SIMILAR. WILL UPGRADE THE EXISTING HIGH WIND WATCH FOR AKZ213 TO A WARNING ON THIS AFTERNOONS FORECAST SUITE. WITH SUSTAINED WINDS OF 40-50 MPH OVER AKZ213...A GOOD LIKELIHOOD OF OCCASIONAL 60 MPH GUSTS OVER THE NORMALLY WINDY AREAS SUCH AS GAMBELL AND NEAR THE BERING STRAIT. STRONGEST WINDS WILL LIKELY BE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY AS THE TRIPLE POINT LOW ROTATES WESTWARD AND MAKES ITS CLOSEST APPROACH TO OUR FORECAST AREA...TIGHTENING THE PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE NORTHERN BERING. SOME SNOW MAY MAKE IT WESTWARD TO SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND THURSDAY...MAYBE TO THE BERING STRAIT THURSDAY NIGHT BUT THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN CONSIDERABLY BY THAT TIME. ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST...WINDS WILL REMAIN AT 15 MPH OR LESS OVER MOST OF ALL AREAS EAST OF WAINWRIGHT THROUGH FRI AS HIGH PRESSURE GRADUALLY BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST. SNOW WILL SPREAD NORTHWARD TO NORTON SOUND AND THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR TONIGHT... AND TO MUCH OF THE SEWARD PENINSULA AND INTERIOR SOUTH OF SELAWIK-BETTLES-FORT YUKON THU MORNING. SNOW MAY BECOME MIXED WITH RAIN OVER THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF AKZ214-AKZ215 LATE THU MORNING OR THU AFTERNOON AS 1000-850 MB LAYER MEAN TEMPERATURE NUDGES UP TO 0C OR A LITTLE ABOVE. GFS CARRYING THE LARGEST PRECIP AMOUNTS OVER SOUTHWEST ALASKA THROUGH 18Z THU...ECMWF SOMEWHAT LESS AND THE NAM CONSIDERABLY LESS. WILL OPT OUT FOR MAXIMUM SNOW AMOUNTS OF AROUND 5 INCHES IN AKZ214 AND UP TO 7 INCHES IN AKZ215-AKZ216. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ212-AKZ214-AKZ215-AKZ216. HIGH WIND WARNING FOR AKZ213. HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING FOR PKZ210. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ220-PKZ225. && RF DEC 08
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
The cooperative observer in Galena observed 7 inches of snow with a water content of 32 hundredths of an inch from 1800AKST on the 3rd through 1800AKST on the 4th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2008
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: 137162.