A storm force low moved into the western Gulf on the afternoon of Wednesday, 2/13. The associated, very strong front advanced into the eastern Gulf on 2/13 with a triple point just south of Yakutat.
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 moved into the western Gulf on the afternoon of Wednesday, 2/13. The associated, very strong front advanced into the eastern Gulf on 2/13 with a triple point just south of Yakutat. The front occluded and became stationary along the entire southeast Alaska coast Thursday morning, 2/14.
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 Feb 13, 6:00 AM AKST, 12 hours 43 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1100 AM AST WED FEB 13 2008
.SHORT RANGE...WEATHER FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH STRONG LOW SOUTH OF
COLD BAY DRIFTING TO NEAR KODIAK ISLAND THURSDAY MORNING. THE
WEATHER FRONT WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE EASTERN GULF THOUGH THIS
EVENING AND OVER SOUTHEAST ALASKA BY THURSDAY MORNING. RAIN WILL
BE SPREADING INTO THE NORTHEAST GULF COAST THIS AFTERNOON AND THE
PANHANDLE AREA THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. SOME LOCALLY MODERATE
TO HEAVY AMOUNTS MAY BE POSSIBLE AS THERE A FAIR BIT OF WATER
CONTENT WITH THE SYSTEM. A DEVELOPING WAVE ON THE COLD FRONT
WILL MOVE NORTH ALONG THE FRONT AND IS EXPECTED TO PUSH INTO THE
SOUTHERN PANHANDLE AREA THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE MAINLY RAIN FROM THIS EVENT EXCEPT OVER
THE HIGHER TERRAIN OVER THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE. SHOULD SEE SNOW
LEVELS 500 TO 1000 FEET OVER THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE AND 3 TO 5
THOUSAND FEET OVER THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE. WILL KEEP AN EYE OUT
FOR THE POTENTIAL OF MINOR FLOODING TO DO TO RAINFALL AND
SNOWMELT. RAINFALL DOES NOT LOOK EXCESSIVE BUT SOME MINOR PONDING
AND OVERFILLING DITCHES MAY RESULT.
GALE FORCE WINDS WITH THE FRONT MAINLY OVER THE OUTER WATERS IN
THE MARINE FORECASTS. COULD SEE SOME LOCALLY GUSTY WINDS FOR THE
COAST ZONES (17/22/23/27) THAT REACH GUST 35 MPH OR SO. NOT SURE
IF A WIND ADVISORY WILL BE NEEDED. WILL HAVE A BETTER IDEA BY THE
TIME THE AFTERNOON PACKAGE GOES OUT.
.LONG RANGE...
MOST IMPRESSIVE THIS MORNING IS THE HEAVY MOISTURE STREAM FROM
THE SW ASSOCIATED WITH THE STORM S OF COLD BAY. SREF POPS LOOK
RIGHT. QPF WILL CONTINUE TO BE ABOVE NORMAL THU NIGHT IN A WARM
SECTOR AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT THAT WILL MOVE ONTO THE SE AK COAST
FRI MORNING...THEN PRECIP ENHANCED WITH LOW LEVEL ONSHORE FLOW.
MUST CONSIDER THE ONSET OF SNOW FRI BUT CERTAINLY FRI NITE WITH
CONVECTION. BEST CHANCE FOR A BREAK WILL BE EARLY SAT MORNING
WITH AN UPR RIDGE AXIS TO BE JUST OFF THE COAST AS PER ALL 12Z
MODELS. TOO BAD THAT THE RIDGE IS PROGRESSIVE THEN BECOMES THE
BLOCK INLAND OVER YUKON-B.C. TO WEST COAST U.S. WHICH IS A
FAVORITE PLACE.
USED 12Z AK-GFS-40 FOR WIND THRU SUN...THOUGH AM SKEPTICAL OF
DETAILS AND TIMING WHEN THE FUN STARTS AGAIN ON SAT. ALL 12Z
MODELS HAVE SOME SORT OF SECONDARY LOW DEVELOPING SOMEWHERE ALG
150W. HIGH CERTAINTY THAT THIS LOW WILL BRING A WARM FRONT WITH
OVER RUNNING PRECIP ON SAT W/BEST GUESS TO START AS ALL SNOW.
RECALL THAT THE COLD FRONT MENTIONED ABV BRINGS IN SHALLOW
NON-ARCTIC AIR. USED AK-GFS-40 TO FORECAST CHANGE BACK TO RAIN
STARTING SOUTH TO NORTH BUT WILL HEDGE TOWARD SLIGHTLY SLOWER
CHANGE. LOOKS LIKE ALL AREAS BACK TO RAIN CERTAINLY BY SUN
MORNING. EXPECT MEAN SW FLOW ALF OVER SE AK SUNDAY AND BEYOND FOR
WARM/WET WEATHER. TIMING OF ANY DISTURBANCES IN THIS FLOW ZERO
CONFIDENCE.
.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...NONE
MARINE...GALE WARNING PKZ041>043-051>053-310
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY PKZ011-021-022-031-033>036
BMB/JC1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Yakutat airport measured 5.2 inches of new snowfall between 1500 2/13 and 2100 2/13. It is estimated that outlying areas, especially along the mountains, exceeded 6 to 8 inches of new snow at that time. The snow rapidly changed to rain around 2100 2/13.
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, February 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: 89302.