Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Arctic Coast
- When
- March 25, 4:00 AM AKST to March 26, 2:00 AM AKST
- Where
- Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Extreme Cold in Alaska, March 25 to 26, 2008
Strong high pressure over the northern Chukchi Sea and the Beaufort Sea created cold temperatures over the North Slope, and winds from 15 to 25 mph created Extreme Wind Chills as reported by the Point Lay AWOS, where the coldest wind chill was -62 F.
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.
Strong high pressure over the northern Chukchi Sea and the Beaufort Sea created cold temperatures over the North Slope, and winds from 15 to 25 mph created Extreme Wind Chills as reported by the Point Lay AWOS, where the coldest wind chill was -62 F.
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 Mar 24, 10:52 PM AKST, 5 hours 8 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 24, 10:52 PM AKST, 5 hours 8 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 452 AM ADT TUE MAR 25 2008 .DISCUSSION... ALOFT...RIDGE OVER RUSSIA AND FAR NORTH BEAUFORT SEA SLOWLY WEAKENING THROUGH 00Z FRI. LOW OVER GULF OF ALASKA WEAKENING INTO TROUGH WHICH SLIDES EAST TOWARD CANADA...BUT WEAK CIRCULATION OVER INTERIOR AND WEST COAST COMPOSED OF SEVERAL LOWS WILL FORM A COMPLEX LOW OVER WESTERN ALASKA THROUGH 00Z FRI. SURFACE...1044 MB HIGH 500 MILES NORTHWEST OF BARROW WEAKENING TO 1033 MB 00Z FRI. 1002 COMPLEX LOW OVER GULF OF ALASKA SLOWLY WEAKENING AND DRIFTING EAST. MODELS...IN THE SHORT TERM BOTH THE GFS AND WRF ARE ONCE AGAIN QUICK TO WEAKEN THE STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE SOUTHERN BROOKS RANGE...SO WILL INSTEAD WILL PLAN ON THE WINDS NOT DIMINISHING AS FAST...HAVE THUS CONTINUED THE HAZARDS THERE FOR WIND OR WINTER WEATHER THROUGH TODAY. IN THE MEDIUM TERM UNCERTAINTY CONTINUES. AS THE UPPER PATTERN BREAKS DOWN IN THE HIGH ARCTIC IT WILL ALLOW FOR SOME INTERACTION BETWEEN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN STREAMS. IT APPEARS THAT THE UPPER TROUGH IN THE GULF WILL BECOME RAGGED ENOUGH THAT IT WILL PUSH OUT INTO BRITISH COLUMBIA WITH SOME RIDGING IN THE WAKE OF THE DEPARTING TROUGH AND ADDITIONAL ENERGY FROM THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN BRANCHES THAT PUSHES INTO THE BERING SEA AND SOUTHERN ALEUTIANS. FOR NOW WILL TREND TEMPERATURES UP A BIT AND CLOSER TO THE ENSEMBLE MEAN BY THE WEEKEND. NORTH SLOPE...WILL KEEP WIND CHILL HAZARDS GOING FOR TODAY. WINDS OVERALL WILL LIKELY NOT INCREASE ANY AND WILL DROP A LITTLE THIS PM...SO BY EVENING THE HAZARDS COULD END MOST PLACES. WHILE SOME HIGHER CLOUDS WILL DRIFT OVER THE AREA FROM EAST TO WEST...NO SIGNIFICANT SNOW EXPECTED. WESTERN ALASKA...WINDS SLOWLY COMING DOWN OVER OUTER WATERS TODAY. OTHERWISE SPOTTY SNOW SHOWERS OR FLURRIES FOR MUCH OF THE WEEK AS THE COMPLEX UPPER LOW GETS ESTABLISHED OVER THE AREA AND PERSISTS. CENTRAL/EASTERN INTERIOR...ONE VORT MAX OVER NORTHERN ZONE 224 - WEST OF EAGLE...WILL DRIFT NORTHWEST NEXT 24 HOURS AND EVENTUALLY JOIN THE COMPLEX LOW FORMING OVER WESTERN ALASKA...BUT FOR TODAY EXPECT AREAS OF SNOW FROM THIS FEATURE OVER ZONES 218 219 220 WITH AN INCH OR TWO ACCUMULATION ZONES 218 AND 220...AND A FEW SNOW SHOWERS FOR NORTHERN PARTS OF 221 AND 222. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ201-AKZ203. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ218. WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ217. WIND CHILL WARNING FOR AKZ205-AKZ206. BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FOR AKZ219. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230-PKZ240- PKZ245. && JL/CB MAR 08
Event by event
1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
- Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 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: 83470.