A secondary gale force low developed to 982 millibars on the morning of 3/16 over the central Gulf. The arctic front moved inland as this low approached, but there was enough cold air to cause over-running snow for some sections of the the northern Panhandle on the morning of 3/16.
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 secondary gale force low developed to 982 millibars on the morning of 3/16 over the central Gulf. The arctic front moved inland as this low approached, but there was enough cold air to cause over-running snow for some sections of the the northern Panhandle on the morning of 3/16.
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 16, 5:00 AM AKST, 2 hours 34 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION 1100 AM ADT SUN MAR 16 2008 .SYNOPSIS... .SHORT RANGE...YET ANOTHER FUN DAY ACROSS SOUTHEAST ALASKA. LOW OVER THE NORTHEAST GULF ABOUT 57/142 AROUND 9 AM...AND CONTINUING TO TRACK EAST NORTHEAST. FRONTAL BAND ITSELF JUST HITTING THE OUTER COAST...WITH ITS STRONG FRONTAL WINDS FOR THE MARINE AND LAND ZONES ON THE COAST. HAVE VERIFIED ALL THE WIND ADVISORIES OUT RIGHT NOW AND EVEN HAD A FEW GUSTS OVER WESTERN PRINCE OF WALES INTO THE LOW 60 MPH RANGE. THERE IS ALSO SOME GUSTY WINDS OVER SOME OF THE INNER CHANNELS AND LAND AREAS. FLOW TO THE LOW HAS WINDS OVER ICY STRAIT AND CROSS SOUND AT GALES RIGHT SHOULD SEE THEM DIMINISH BY AFTERNOON. SNOW AMOUNT FROM THE OVERRUNNING COMING IN SLIGHTLY MORE THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT...SO HAVE UPGRADED THE SNOW ADVISORIES TO HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR HAINES AND HOONAH AND EXTENDED A COUPLE OF HOURS. SHOULD HAVE PROBABLY ISSUED SOME SURROUNDING ZONES WITH SNOW ADVISORIES BUT WILL BE CLOSE. WIND ADVISORIES CONTINUING FOR COASTAL ZONES BARANOF/CHICHAGOF ISLANDS THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING DUE TO THE EXPECTED SECOND WRAP BURST OF WINDS. AM A BIT CONCERNED THAT WE MAY NEED TO EXTEND THE TIME AS WELL PERHAPS BUMP UP TO A FULL BLOWN WARNING. THE FRONT SHOULD MOVE THROUGH THE AREA BY THE EVENING HOURS AND A SMALL BIT OF THE RESIDUAL LOW WILL PERSIST OVER THE NORTHEAST GULF AND MAIN PARENT LOW DRIFTING EAST TO BE SOUTH OF CAPE SUCKLING MONDAY AFTERNOON. BUT SHOULD SEE MONDAY AS A DAY OF SHOWERS OVER THE GULF AND SOUTHEAST ALASKA IN THE SOUTHWEST TO WEST FLOW ALOFT. .LONG RANGE...OPERATIONAL MODELS AND ENSEMBLE MEAN ARE IN A GOOD CONSENSUS THROUGH THE WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. SO WITH THAT SAID THERE IS HIGH FORECASTER CONFIDENCE WITH THE AFTERNOON PACKAGE. WILL NOT CHANGE TO GRIDS MUCH THROUGH THE MID-RANGE BUT WILL MAKE A FEW MINOR CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED PART OF THE FORECAST TO UP THE POPS WITH A LOW MOVING INTO THE SOUTHERN GULF AND AN ASSOCIATED WEATHER FRONT MOVING OVER THE EASTERN GULF AND PANHANDLE FRIDAY INTO SAT. AT THE UPPER LEVELS...THE BROAD UPPER TROF OVER THE STATE AND EXTENDING SOUTH THROUGH THE GULF INTO THE NORTH PACIFIC. THIS FEATURE WILL SLOWLY SLIDE SOUTH THROUGH THE WEEK AS SHORTWAVES ROTATE AROUND THE BASE OF THE PARENT LOW AND LIFT INTO THE GULF. A HIGH WILL BUILD OVER EASTERN RUSSIA TO FORM A OMEGA BLOCK THAT WILL STRENGTHEN THROUGH THE WEEK. A STRONG SHORTWAVE UNDER CUT THE HIGH SLIDING INTO THE BERING AND ROTATE AROUND THE PARENT LOW AND REFORM THE MAIN UPPER LOW OVER THE CENTRAL GULF BY NEXT WEEKEND. THERE IS GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THIS PATTERN FROM THE GLOBAL MODELS ALONG WITH RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY. SHOWERS WILL REMAIN LIKELY ACROSS THE PANHANDLE THROUGH MOST OF THE WEEK AS A 990 MB LOW MONDAY NIGHT SLOWLY FILLS THROUGH THE WEEK. TEMPS WILL BE COLD ENOUGH THAT THERE WILL BE A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW WITH THE SHOWERS BUT IN THE NORTHERN AREAS THEY MAY STAY COLD TO REMAIN IN THE SNOW SHOWERS WITH THE ONSHORE FLOW FROM THE PERSISTENT UPPER TROF OVER THE GULF. SNOW AMOUNTS WILL NOT BE THAT MUCH BUT AT NIGHT TIME THERE MAY BE MINOR ACCUMULATIONS. A SURFACE LOW WILL DEVELOP THROUGH WED AS A SHORTWAVE DROPS OUT OF THE NORTHERN BERING AND ROTATES INTO THE SOUTHWESTERN GULF AROUND THE LOW IN THE NORTHERN GULF. THIS DEVELOPING LOW DRIFT EAST TO BE 300 NM SW OF THE CHARLOTTES AND SLOWLY FILL THROUGH THURSDAY AS THE UPPER LEVEL VORT WEAKENS BECAUSE JET SUPPORT IS DROPPING SOUTH INTO THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC. AS THIS SURFACE LOW APPROACHES THE PANHANDLE IT WILL INCREASE THE SURFACE OFFSHORE FLOW TO KEEP THE SHOWERS AT A LOWER CHANCE WED NIGHT. AS THE LOW FILLS IT WILL LIFT NORTH INTO THE EASTERN GULF SO SOME PRECIP WILL MOVE INTO THE SOUTHERN AREAS BUT THE NORTHERN AREAS WILL DRY OUT THURSDAY. THE UPPER TROF WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT NORTH SO THE PRECIP WILL MOVE NORTH THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. FOR THE END OF THE WEEK INTO NEXT WEEKEND...A UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL UNDER CUT THE HIGH ASSOCIATED WITH THE BLOCK WILL PHASE WITH THE PARENT LOW OVER BRISTOL BAY AND REFORM THE MAIN UPPER LOW IN THE GULF THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE STRONG VORT MAX WILL DEVELOP AND SURFACE LOW AS IT ROTATES AROUND THE PARENT LOW AND DEEPEN TO A STORM FORCE 960MB LOW. A STRONG WEATHER FRONT WILL BE OVER EASTERN GULF FRIDAY AND THEN OVER THE PANHANDLE FRIDAY NIGHT/SAT MORNING. THIS FRONT WILL INCREASE WINDS TO STORMS OVER THE EASTERN GULF AND VERY STRONG WINDS OVER THE COASTAL AREAS. IT MAY BE COLD ENOUGH AT THE START AS SNOW BUT WILL CHANGE TO RAIN OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF BUT IT IS STILL TO FAR OUT TO SAY IF THE NORTHERN AREAS WILL STAY ALL SNOW OR CHANGE TO RAIN. THE RAIN SHOWERS WILL NOT LAST LONG AS THERE IS COLDER AIR FUNNELING BEHIND THE FRONT SO THERE WILL BE SNOW SHOWERS FOR SAT. .AJK...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES PUBLIC...HEAVY SNOW AKZ019-021 ...WIND ADVISORY AKZ022-023-027-028 MARINE...STORM WARNING PKZ043 ...GALE WARNING PKZ021-022-036-041-042-051-052 ...SMALL CRAFT PKZ011-013-031>035 BMB/ABJ
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
1127 AM ADT SUN MAR 16 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0811 AM HEAVY SNOW HOONAH 58.12N 135.45W
03/16/2008 M8.1 INCH AK CO-OP OBSERVER
THE CO-OP OBSERVER IN HOONAH REPORTED THAT 8.1 INCHES OF
SNOW FELL OVER NIGHT.
0840 AM HEAVY SNOW TENAKEE SPRINGS 58.78N 135.22W
03/16/2008 M6.0 INCH PKZ012 AK TRAINED SPOTTER
A SPOTTER IN TENAKEE SPRINGS REPORTED 6 INCHES OF SNOW
FROM 2 AM TO 830 AM.
0920 AM NON-TSTM WND GST CRAIG 55.48N 133.12W
03/16/2008 M64.00 MPH AK CO-OP OBSERVER
CO-OP OBSERVER IN CRAIG REPORTED A GUST OF 64 MPH
1120 AM HEAVY SNOW ELFIN COVE 58.19N 136.34W
03/16/2008 E10.0 INCH AK CO-OP OBSERVER
A CO-OP OBSERVER IN ELFIN COVE REPORTED 10 INCHES OF SNOW
FROM 11 PM SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH 1130 AM SUNDAY MORNING.
&&
ABJ2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The COOP observer at Haines customs measured 1.5 inches of new snowfall for twenty-four hours ending at 0700 on 3/16; 8.0 inches on 3/17; and 2.0 inches on 3/18. The COOP observer in Haines measured 20.8 inches of new snowfall for twenty-four hours ending at 0700 3/17.
The COOP observer at Hoonah measured 8.1 inches of new snowfall for twenty-four hours ending at 0900 3/16. The snow started around midnight. Hoonah got 2.6 inches additional snowfall for twenty-four hours ending at 0700 3/17. The airport observations confirmed that this snow occurred midday on 3/16. Tenakee Springs observed 8.0 inches of new snow at 1400 3/16.
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: 89401, 89404.