Arctic high pressure to 1038 millibars was over central Alaska on the morning of 3/1. The arctic front was over Lynn Canal and warm moist air moved over the front early on the morning of 3/1 for brief heavy 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 AJK wrote it up.
Arctic high pressure to 1038 millibars was over central Alaska on the morning of 3/1. The arctic front was over Lynn Canal and warm moist air moved over the front early on the morning of 3/1 for brief heavy 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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 1, 6:00 AM AKST, 12 hours earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
1100 AM AST SAT MAR 1 2008
.SYNOPSIS...
.SHORT RANGE...ONSHORE FLOW CONTINUES THIS MORNING AHEAD OF WEAK
MID LEVEL RIDGING. A LIGHTNING STRIKE OCCURRED WITHIN SOME OF THE
STRONGER MORE WELL DEVELOPED SNOW SHOWERS NEAR BARANOF ISLAND AS
THEY CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD. AS THE RIDGE ADVECTS EASTWARD
THIS AFTERNOON IT WILL TURN THE SHOWERS INTO STRATIFORM PRECIP
AND EFFECTIVELY CAP THE CONVECTION. THE NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM IS
TAKING SHAPE NEAR 52N 152W. A SURFACE LOW WILL DEEPEN SOUTHWEST
OF KODIAK ISLAND AND PUSH NORTHWARD ACROSS THE ALASKAN PENINSULA
THROUGH TONIGHT. ITS ASSOCIATED WEATHER FRONT WILL PUSH TOWARD
THE PANHANDLE TONIGHT INTO EARLY SUNDAY. MODEL INITIALIZATION WAS
BEST IN THE NAM AND GFS SO WENT WITH A 50-50 BLEND. THE NAM
CAPTURED THE WIND FIELD BETTER WITH THE FRONTAL OCCLUSION PASSAGE
ON SUNDAY. WHILE THE GFS HAD A BETTER HANDLE ON THE OVERALL
PRECIPITATION EVENT AND PLACEMENT OF THE ARCTIC BOUNDARY ALONG A
LINE PAEL-PAOH-PAJN. SO NUDGED CURRENT GRIDS TOWARD THESE
SOLUTIONS.
FOR TONIGHT OVERRUNNING SHOULD BEGIN AHEAD OF THE FRONT ACROSS
THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE WITH AREAS OF LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL.
WILL ADD ZONE 22 TO THE CURRENT SNOW ADVY LIST AS THE OVERRUNNING
SHOULD DEEPEN AND ALLOW THEM TO ALSO RECEIVE ADVY SNOWFALL BEFORE
CHANGING TO RAIN BY EARLY SUNDAY. ARCTIC FRONT SHOULD REMAIN
ALONG THE ICY STRAIT CORRIDOR THROUGH LATE TONIGHT BEFORE MOVING
NORTHWARD INTO SUNDAY. BEST FRONTOGENESIS AND DYNAMICS WILL BE
JUST NORTH OF THIS BOUNDARY WITHIN LYNN CANAL AND NEAR HAINES SO
CONTINUE TO EXPECT THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IN ZONE 19. FOR THE
SOUTHERN PANHANDLE TONIGHT CONTINUE TO EXPECT RAIN AND SNOW
SHOWERS WITH LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS BEFORE CHANGING TO ALL RAIN BY
LATE TONIGHT WITH THE ADVANCE/DEVELOPMENT OF THE WARM LOW LEVEL
JET.
BY EARLY SUNDAY THE SOUTHERLY LOW LEVEL JET WILL HAVE PUSHED WARM
AIR NORTHWARD ALL THE WAY NORTH TO JUNEAU. SO EXPECT SNOW TO
CHANGE TO ALL RAIN BY EARLY SUNDAY ACROSS THE MAJORITY OF THE
PANHANDLE SAVE ZONE 18 AND 19 WHERE A MIX WILL STILL OCCUR. THE
WEAK SURFACE DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE TRIPLE POINT WEST OF DIXON
ENTRANCE BY SUNDAY MORNING SHOULD LOCALLY INCREASE THE PRESSURE
GRADIENT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PANHANDLE. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR WIND
ADVY GUSTS IN ZONE 27 AND 28 AND GALES IN CLARENCE STRAIT THROUGH
SUNDAY AFTERNOON. PSS
.LONG RANGE...SOME MODEL DIFFERENCES THROUGHOUT THE LONG
RANGE...HOWEVER THE OVERALL PATTERN SEEMS CONSISTENT. MADE SOME
MINOR ADJUSTMENTS FOR TOMORROW NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY
NIGHT...OTHERWISE LEFT PACKAGE AS IS.
UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE EASTERN GULF SUNDAY NIGHT AND
PERSISTS IN VARYING DEGREES THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD. A VERY
PROGRESSIVE PATTERN DOES BREAK DOWN THE RIDGE OR SHIFTS IT
EASTWARD TOWARD BRITISH COLUMBIA AT TIMES...HOWEVER THE RIDGE IS
VERY QUICK TO REESTABLISH ITSELF. THE RESULT WILL BE RELATIVELY
WARMER TEMPERATURES AND A WET PATTERN.
THE MAIN FOCUS WILL BE ON A COMPLEX OF SEVERAL LOWS/SHORT WAVES
FORMING IN THE WESTERN GULF/BERING BEGINNING ON MONDAY. THIS
COMPLEX WILL SHOOT SEVERAL OF THESE SYSTEMS INTO THE GULF
BEGINNING MONDAY NIGHT. PINPOINTING THE TIMING...STRENGTH AND
LOCATION OF THESE SYSTEM IS DIFFICULT AS MODELS TRADITIONALLY
HAVE DIFFICULTY HANDLING THESE FEATURES. CONSISTENT
SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL LIKELY KEEP COLD AIR OUTBREAKS AT BAY AND
THEREFORE EXPECT MOST LOCATIONS TO REMAIN RAIN...ESPECIALLY MID
TO LATE WEEK WHEN THE BEST SOUTH-SOUTHWEST PUSH IS EXPECTED.
HANKO
.AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC... HEAVY SNOW WARNING AKZ019
... SNOW ADVY AKZ017-020-021-025
MARINE... GALE PKZ041-042-043-051-052-310
... SMCR PKZ011>013-021-022-033>0361 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The Haines COOP observer measured 7.1 inches new snow for twenty-four hours ending 0900 3/2. Analyses indicated most of the snow fell between |0100 and 0700 on 3/2.
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, March 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: 89396.