A storm in the eastern Bering Sea produced strong east wind along with snow through Portage Valley that resulted in a blizzard.
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 AFC wrote it up.
A storm in the eastern Bering Sea produced strong east wind along with snow through Portage Valley that resulted in a blizzard.
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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 15, 1:30 AM AKST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
630 AM AST TUE JAN 15 2008
.MODEL DISCUSSION...
GFS IS THE MODEL OF CHOICE THIS MORNING. NAM INITIALIZED VERY
POORLY...PARTICULARLY OUT WEST WITH LOCATION OF THE LOW TO THE
SOUTHWEST OF THE PRIBILOFS.
.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
MAIN WEATHER MAKER ACROSS THE MAINLAND IS A 971 MB LOW SOUTHWEST OF
THE PRIBILOFS AND A FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDING EAST ACROSS THE ALASKA
RANGE. A TRIPLE POINT LOW HAS DEVELOPED IN THE NORTHWESTERN GULF WITH
A WARM FRONT EXTENDING EAST ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF FROM THAT POINT.
SNOW IS FALLING OVER MOST OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
ASSOCIATED WITH THESE FEATURES. TEMPERATURES BEHIND THE FRONT ARE
WELL ABOVE FREEZING...AS SEEN IN PLACES LIKE KING SALMON AND KODIAK
ISLAND.
SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT FLOWING OUT OF A WESTERN BERING SEA TROF
WITH EMBEDDED SHORT WAVES ALONG THE 160 KT JET PROVIDING THE UPPER
LEVEL SUPPORT.
.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
SOUTHCENTRAL...
BLIZZARD WARNING FOR PORTAGE VALLEY AND EASTERN TURNAGAIN ARM AS A
RESULT OF THE STRONG EASTERLY WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT. TEMPERATURES
HOVERING JUST BELOW FREEZING SO HAVE YET TO SEE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS
REFLECTED IN THE PATO OBSERVATION BUT CONFIDENT THERE ARE AREAS
LIKELY SEEING WHITE OUT CONDITIONS.
SNOW ADVISORY HAS BEEN POSTED FOR THE SUSITNA VALLEY AS A RESULT OF
THE VERY FAVORABLE WINDS ALOFT AND ABUNDANT MOISTURE. EXPECTING
MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH 6 TO 14 STORM TOTAL
THROUGHOUT THE ZONE. VALDEZ IS IN A VERY FAVORABLE PATTERN FOR
SIGNIFICANT SNOW THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
ELSEWHERE...EXPECTING LIGHTER SNOW TOTALS AS EASTERLY WINDS INITIALLY
ARE DOWNSLOPING ANCHORAGE BUT AS THE FRONT PASSES THROUGH AND WINDS
TURN MORE SOUTHERLY AT THE MID LEVELS...EXPECT TO SEE SNOW PICK UP A
BIT. CONDITIONS IMPROVE WEDNESDAY AND THEN ANOTHER FRONT MOVES INTO
THE GULF THURSDAY BRINGING ANOTHER SHOT OF SNOW FOR MOST OF
SOUTHCENTRAL.
SOUTHWEST...
BLIZZARD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA THIS MORNING. THE
ZONE IS CURRENTLY IN A BREAK BETWEEN THE INITIAL FRONTAL PASSAGE AND
THE ANTICIPATED SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW LATER THIS MORNING THAT WILL BRING
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 35 MPH AND SNOW SHOWERS. THE COMBINATION OF THE
TWO WILL RESULT IN SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE COAST
WHERE WINDS WILL BE STRONGEST.
SNOW ALSO SPREADING UP THE KUSKOKWIM VALLEY THIS MORNING. SOME
QUESTION AS TO HOW MUCH SNOW WILL FALL IN THIS AREA...HAVE OPTED TO
BUMP UP TOTALS JUST BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA BUT WILL HAVE TO MONITOR
CLOSELY.
CONCERN IN THE BRISTOL BAY ZONE SURROUNDING THE POTENTIAL FOR
FREEZING RAIN/DRIZZLE DILLINGHAM WEST WHERE COLD AIR IS TRAPPED AT
THE SURFACE AND DRAINING FROM THE NORTH. WARM SOUTH TO SOUTHEASTERLY
FLOW ALOFT...EVIDENCED BY KING SALMONS SOUNDING...INDICATIVE OF WARM
AIR JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE. HAVE MENTIONED THE POSSIBILITY OF
FREEZING RAIN IN THE ZONE BUT AM ANXIOUSLY AWAITING THE FIRST REPORTS
FROM DILLINGHAM TO VERIFY THE PRECIPITATION TYPE.
FURTHER WEST...MUCH UNCERTAINTY IN THE BERING SEA AS LOWS SPIN UP AND
MOVE INTO THE EASTERN BERING SEA. HAVE HEDGED THE FORECAST TOWARD THE
NEW GFS BUT NOT ENOUGH CONFIDENCE TO NAIL DOWN THE DETAILS BEYOND THE
FIRST 48 HOURS.
.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING...125 155
SNOW ADVISORY 145
MARINE...HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING...130 140 185
GALES...120 130 140 170 172 179 180 185
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.
AB JAN 081 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
The low visibility coupled with strong wind and snow reported resulted in concluding visibilities in Portage Valley were near zero.
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, January 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: 65719.