Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- February 19, 9:30 PM AKST to February 20, 2:30 AM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, February 19 to 20, 2008
Blizzard conditions likely occurred for a few hours overnight on the 19th, at Wales on the Bering Strait Coast, based on winds and visibility reported at the Tin City AWOS.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
Blizzard conditions likely occurred for a few hours overnight on the 19th, at Wales on the Bering Strait Coast, based on winds and visibility reported at the Tin City AWOS.
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 Feb 19, 9:54 AM AKST, 11 hours 36 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 19, 9:54 AM AKST, 11 hours 36 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 254 PM AST TUE FEB 19 2008 .DISCUSSION... MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT AS A 978 MB LOW 50 NW WEST OF DUTCH HARBOR MOVES INTO NORTON SOUND BY 3 PM WEDNESDAY. THIS LOW WILL BRING ANOTHER SHOT OF SNOW FOR THE WEST COAST AND NORTH SLOPE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. SNOW ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR ZONES 217 AND 218 WITH UP TO 5 INCHES EXPECTED THROUGH 9 PM WEDNESDAY. THE GRADIENT WINDS WILL BE INCREASING ALONG THE BERING STRAIT TONIGHT, THUS THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR ZONE 213 HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO A BLIZZARD WARNING AS WINDS GUSTING TO 45 MPH WITH FALLING SNOW WILL LIKELY REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO ZERO AT TIMES ALONG THE BERING STRAIT COAST AND SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND INTO WEDNESDAY. THE ARCTIC COAST WILL SEE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AS WELL AS THE GRADIENT WINDS WILL BE INCREASING TO 40 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH FALLING SNOW. THIS WILL LEAD TO REDUCED VISIBILITY TO ZERO AT TIMES THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER SURGE OF STRONG WINDS BELOW 600 MB WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE INTERIOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT...BRINGING ANOTHER ROUND OF ADVISORY LEVEL WINDS IN ALASKA RANGE PASSES AND IN THE DELTA JUNCTION AREA...AND ABOVE TREE LINE IN ZONES 220-221-222-225 AND ZONE 226. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ220-AKZ221-AKZ222-AKZ223-AKZ225-AKZ226. SNOW ADVISORY FOR AKZ217-AKZ218. BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ201-AKZ202-AKZ203-AKZ204-AKZ205-AKZ206- AKZ207-AKZ213. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230-PKZ235- PKZ240-PKZ245. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ215. && JK FEB 08
Event by event
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Blizzard
- Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lake-Effect Snow in Pennsylvania, February 19, 2008
- Lake-Effect Snow in New York, February 19 to 20, 2008
- Cold in Minnesota, February 19 to 20, 2008
- Extreme Cold in Minnesota, February 19 to 20, 2008
- Extreme Cold in North Dakota, February 19 to 20, 2008
- Extreme Cold in South Dakota, February 19 to 20, 2008
- High Surf in Hawaii, February 19, 2008
- Extreme Cold in North Dakota, February 19 to 20, 2008
- Cold in Wisconsin, February 19 to 20, 2008
- Cold in Iowa, February 19 to 20, 2008
- Cold in South Dakota, February 19 to 20, 2008
- Cold in Minnesota, February 19 to 20, 2008
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 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: 82351.