Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- January 26, 10:00 PM AKST to January 27, 6:00 AM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, January 26 to 27, 2008
A stationary 965 mb low in the western Bering Sea sent an occlusion north over western Alaska on the night of the 26th and during the day on the 27th, creating blizzard conditions at several locations:|Zone 211: Blizzard conditions were reported at Nome and were likely at Golovin. |Zone 213: Blizzard conditions were likely, as reported by the Gambell AWOS.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 stationary 965 mb low in the western Bering Sea sent an occlusion north over western Alaska on the night of the 26th and during the day on the 27th, creating blizzard conditions at several locations:|Zone 211: Blizzard conditions were reported at Nome and were likely at Golovin. |Zone 213: Blizzard conditions were likely, as reported by the Gambell 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 Jan 26, 9:52 AM AKST, 12 hours 8 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 26, 9:52 AM AKST, 12 hours 8 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 252 PM AST SAT JAN 26 2008 .SYNOPSIS... A STRONG HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE FROM THE EASTERN INTERIOR TO THE WESTERN ARCTIC COAST WILL MOVE TO LIE ALONG THE ALCAN BORDER BY 3PM SUN AND THEN PERSIST INTO MON. VERY COLD AIR UNDER THIS RIDGE WILL PERSIST ESPECIALLY IN VALLEY LOCATIONS WHERE TEMPS WILL BE IN THE 40S BELOW. WEST WINDS IN ZONES 203 AND 204 WILL DECREASE TONIGHT AS THE RIDGE BUILDS EAST OVER THOSE AREAS. STRONG EAST WINDS WILL DEVELOP IN THE USUAL CHANNELED AREAS ALONG THE WEST COAST TONIGHT SUCH AS KOTZEBUE AND UNALAKLEET. WILL SEE EAST WINDS DEVELOP IN THE INTERIOR DRAINAGE SPOTS ON SUN SUCH ZONE 223 AND THE UPLANDS OF ZONES 219 AND 221 WHERE COLD WIND CHILLS WILL DEVELOP. A STRONG WEATHER FRONT IN THE NORTHERN BERING SEA WILL MOVE TO CAPE NAVARIN TO 100 NM SOUTH OF GAMBELL TO NUNIVAK ISLAND BY 3AM SUN...TO THE BERING STRAIT TO BETHEL BY 3PM SUN...TO POINT LAY TO BETHEL BY 3AM MON...AND TO WAINWRIGHT TO UNALAKLEET TO MCGRATH BY 3PM MON. THERE WILL BE SOUTHEAST WINDS 30-40 KT NEAR THE FRONT ALONG WITH 3- 6 INCHES OF SNOW AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. WINDS AND SNOW WILL DECREASE AS THE FRONT MOVES EAST AND INLAND. HAVE ISSUED BLIZZARD WARNING FOR ZONES 213 AND 214. THIS IS POSSIBLE IN ZONES 211 AND 209 BUT APPEARS THAT STRONG WINDS WILL DECREASE AS THE SNOW DEVELOPS SO HAVE ONLY ISSUED WATCH AT THIS TIME, BUT WILL EITHER UPGRADE OR CHANGE TO A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT. ISSUED WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BLOWING SNOW FOR MOST OF REST OF WEST COAST. ADDRESSED CURRENT WIND CHILL PROBLEMS ON WEST COAST THIS EVENING BY MENTIONING THEM IN THE FORECAST BUT HAVE NOT ISSUED BRIEF WIND CHILL ADVISORY SO AS TO NOT MUDDLE THE MESSAGE OF THE BIG STORM COMING FOR EARLY SUN WITH TWO HEADLINES. THIS FRONT WILL CAUSE EAST WINDS ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST BARROW WEST ON SUN AND WIND CHILL ADVISORIES FOR THAT AREA. && .DISCUSSION... MODELS INITIALIZE WELL AND SHOW SIMILAR SOLUTIONS. THE NAM AGAIN APPEARS TO OVERDO THE PRECIP AMOUNTS ON SUN AND SUN NIGHT AS THIS FRONT IS MOVING WELL AWAY FROM THE MAIN SURFACE LOW CENTER AND SHOULD BE LOSING ITS MOISTURE STREAM AS IT MOVES INLAND. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... BLIZZARD WATCH FOR AKZ209-AKZ211. WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ201-AKZ202-AKZ203-AKZ204-AKZ219- AKZ221-AKZ223-AKZ226. SNOW ADVISORY FOR AKZ215. BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ213-AKZ214. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ207-AKZ210. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ230-PKZ235-PKZ245. && JAN 08
Event by event
2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard, Srn Seward Peninsula Coast
- When
- January 27, 7:16 AM AKST to 5:23 PM AKST
- Where
- Srn Seward Peninsula Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
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
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Oregon, January 26 to 28, 2008
- Ice Storm and Winter Storm in Oregon, January 26 to 28, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, January 26 to 28, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Washington, January 26 to 28, 2008
- Winter Storm and High Wind in California, January 26 to 28, 2008
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Montana, January 26 to 27, 2008
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Washington, January 26 to 28, 2008
- Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, January 26, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Washington, January 26 to 28, 2008
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Idaho, January 26 to 28, 2008
- Winter Weather in Arkansas, January 26, 2008
- Avalanche in Washington, January 26 to 31, 2008
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 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: 71880, 71879.