Winter Storm, Yukon Delta
- When
- March 31, 3:00 PM AKST to 11:59 PM AKST
- Where
- Yukon Delta forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Winter Storm in Alaska, March 31, 2008
A 983 mb low pressure center moved north to the central Bering Sea on the 31st, and an associated occlusion moved over southwest Alaska with the low eventually weakening north of the Seward Peninsula on the afternoon of the 1st. This system brought heavy snow and freezing rain to the eastern and northern shores of Norton Sound the night of the 31st and morning of the 1st.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
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 983 mb low pressure center moved north to the central Bering Sea on the 31st, and an associated occlusion moved over southwest Alaska with the low eventually weakening north of the Seward Peninsula on the afternoon of the 1st. This system brought heavy snow and freezing rain to the eastern and northern shores of Norton Sound the night of the 31st and morning of the 1st. |Zone 211 - On the 31st, 3.8 inches of snow fell at Nome. Rain started on the evening of the 31st and ended early on the morning on the 1st with 0.21 inches...while air temperatures were at or above freezing, traveling surfaces were still below freezing resulting in ice-covered roads and streets. |Zone 212 - Based on snowfall at Nome and the longer periods of reduced visibility at Koyuk, snowfall amounts in the hills over this zone likely exceeded 6 inches for this event. In addition, St. Michael experienced some freezing rain, though below warning criteria.|Zone 214 - Rain fell across the zone, freezing on contact with roads and streets. Mountain Village reported the highest amount...around 0.10 inch of rain on the evening of the 31st, ending just before midnight.|Events for zones 211 and 212 continued into April.
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 31, 8:29 AM AKST, 6 hours 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 8:29 AM AKST, 6 hours 31 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 229 PM ADT MON MAR 31 2008 .DISCUSSION...THE GFS AND NAM MODEL FORECASTS ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT...THOUGH THE GFS MOVES BOTH THE CURRENT BERING SEA LOW AND ITS SUCCESSOR NOW EAST OF JAPAN FASTER THAN THE NAM. THE GFS IS USUALLY BETTER ON SUCH WEATHER SYSTEMS. FOR THE NEAR TERM...THE GOES SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A LARGE AND SOLID MASS OF CLOUDS MOVING UP OVER WESTERN ALASKA AND THE WEST INTERIOR. THIS SYSTEM IS BRINGING ABUNDANT PRECIPITATION TO THE WEST HALF OF THE MAINLAND. BOTH MODELS FORECAST HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT TO SETTLE OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT FOLLOWED BY MODERATE SOUTHWEST FLOW OVER NEARLY ALL OF THE MAINLAND ON WEDNESDAY. THIS IS A GOOD PATTERN FOR UNSETTLED WEATHER AND WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION. THE WARMING OF THE BOUNDARY LAYER OVER MOST OF NORTHERN ALASKA SOUTH OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE HAS COME FAR ENOUGH SUCH THAT RAIN IS A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE PRECIPITATION. THE NEXT INBOUND LOW NOW OFF JAPAN IS FORECAST BY THE GFS TO REACH NORTON SOUND ON THURSDAY AND THE BEAUFORT SEA ON FRIDAY. BEYOND THIS...THE GFS FORECASTS AN OUTBREAK OF COLD AIR OVER THE REALM FROM THE WEST OVER THE WEEKEND. IF THIS WORKS OUT...COLDER WEATHER AND PLENTY OF SNOWFALL OVER THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN INTERIOR WILL RESULT. THIS WILL BE ONE ON WHICH TO KEEP A WARY EYE. IN THE MEDIUM RANGE...THE VARIOUS MODELS AGREE THROUGH FRIDAY BY BRINGING IN SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER THE MAINLAND FRIDAY...PRESUMABLY FOLLOWED BY THE COULD OUTBREAK FROM THE WEST OVER THE WEEKEND. THE EUROPEAN MODEL FORECASTS A COOLER AND MUCH DRIER CIRCULATION PATTERN FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE UPCOMING WEEK...WITH HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT BUILDING OVER THE BEAUFORT SEA BY WEDNESDAY...AND LIGHT SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW OVER THE ALASKA MAINLAND. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ207-AKZ208-AKZ210-AKZ211-AKZ212- AKZ213-AKZ214. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210. && TF MAR 08
Event by event
3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Winter Storm, Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills
- When
- March 31, 4:00 PM AKST to 11:59 PM AKST
- Where
- Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Winter Storm, Srn Seward Peninsula Coast
- When
- March 31, 8:53 PM AKST to 11:59 PM AKST
- Where
- Srn Seward Peninsula Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
What these are
- Winter Storm
- A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Oklahoma, March 31, 2008
- Flash Flooding in Tennessee, March 31, 2008
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, March 31, 2008
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Minnesota, March 31, 2008
- Hail in Texas, March 31, 2008
- Hail in Arkansas, March 31, 2008
- Wildfire in Texas, March 31, 2008
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, March 31, 2008
- High Wind in Kansas, March 31, 2008
- High Wind in Missouri, March 31, 2008
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Illinois, March 31, 2008
- Lightning Strikes in Wisconsin, March 31, 2008
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: 85553, 85538, 85537.