Cold air was entrenched over the northern inner channels of Southeast Alaska panhandle in early April. A strong low moved northeast into the Gulf of Alaska on April 4.
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.
Cold air was entrenched over the northern inner channels of Southeast Alaska panhandle in early April. A strong low moved northeast into the Gulf of Alaska on April 4. The associated surface front approached the Southeast Alaska panhandle and stalled. Warm south moisture laden air overran the colder air at lower level resulting in a significant snow fall for northern Lynn Canal area.
Elsewhere in Southeast Alaska, 4.3 inches of wet snow in Elfin Cove added to the deep snow pack already in pack and caused damage to a warehouse when the roof collapsed. There was no estimate of damage done at this time.
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 Apr 4, 4:51 AM AKST, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
551 AM AKDT SAT APR 4 2009
.SHORT TERM...SATELLITE IMAGERY THIS MORNING IS REVEALING A WELL
DEFINED LOW LOCATED ALONG 50N AND A MUCH LESS WELL DEFINED
CIRCULATION IN THE NORTH CENTRAL GULF. THE ASSOCIATED UPPER LEVEL
LOW CONTINUES TO MOVE SLOWLY TO THE EAST AND WEAKEN AS IT
DISPLACES THE UPPER RIDGE EAST PAST BRITISH COLUMBIA. AT THE
SURFACE...WHAT WAS A SHARPLY DEFINED FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS BECOMING
MORE RAGGED IN ITS APPEARANCE. HOWEVER...POST FRONTAL CONVECTION
CONTINUES TO DEVELOP UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DISCONTINUOUS
VORTICITY MAXIMA AND IT IS THESE AREAS OF CONVECTION THAT COULD
GIVE RISE TO SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IN THE FORM OF BOTH RAIN
AND SNOWFALL UPON REACHING THE PANHANDLE LATER TODAY. AS A
RESULT...OPTED TO MAINTAIN WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES AND WARNINGS
AS IS WITH NO CHANGES. PRECIPITATION SO FAR THIS MORNING HAS BEEN
FAIRLY LIGHT AND THE RAIN SNOW LINE APPEARS TO BE LOCATED
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ANGOON AND TENAKEE INLET. AM EXPECTING TO SEE
THAT LINE REACH ICY STRAIT BY ABOUT NOON TODAY BUT JUNEAU AND
OTHER LOCATIONS NORTH OF ICY STRAIT WILL PROBABLY NOT TRANSITION
TO STRAIGHT RAIN TODAY...SO HAVE A RAIN SNOW MIX FOR THOSE
LOCATIONS IN THE FORECAST FOR THIS AFTERNOON.
SURFACE WINDS OVER THE GULF ASSOCIATED WITH THE OCCLUSION ARE
PANNING OUT AS EXPECTED WITH SOUTHEASTERLY GALES AND THE
OCCASIONAL 50 KT GUST. WINDS ALONG THE OUTER COAST AS WELL AS IN
ZONE 28 ARE JUST REACHING ADVISORY LEVELS. HERE ALSO...THE
EXISTING FORECAST LOOKED GOOD AND MADE NO CHANGES TO THE WIND
ADVISORIES. BELIEVE THE SOUTHWEST OUTER COAST AS WELL AS COASTAL
LOCATIONS AROUND CLARENCE STRAIT WILL SEE THE STRONGEST WINDS
TODAY AND REACH THE HIGH END OF ADVISORY LEVEL GUSTS BEFORE WINDS
BEGIN TO DIMINISH LATER THIS AFTERNOON. HAVE GALES IN PLACE FOR
TODAY FOR ALL OF THE COASTAL MARINE ZONES EXCEPT PKZ052 AS WELL
AS CROSS SOUND...SOUTH CHATHAM...SUMNER...AND CLARENCE STRAIT.
OVER WATER WINDS WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH FROM NORTH TO SOUTH TODAY
AND THE WINDS OVER THE INNER CHANNELS WILL FOLLOW SUIT.
MODEL GUIDANCE WAS IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND FORECASTER CONFIDENCE
IS ABOVE AVERAGE. USED GFS AS PRIMARY GUIDANCE.
.LONG TERM...BEGINNING OF THE LONG TERM WILL STILL HAVE REMNANT
LOW IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF MAKING ITS WAY INTO THE YUKON.
OCCLUDED FRONT WILL BE PASSING OUT OF THE PANHANDLE BUT SOUTH TO
SOUTHWEST LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO BRING MOISTURE TO THE
ENTIRE PANHANDLE. MODEL THICKNESS VALUES CONTINUE TO SUGGEST THAT
PRECIPITATION WILL HAVE TRANSITIONED TO RAIN ACROSS THE PANHANDLE
BY THIS TIME. COULD NOT RULE OUT SNOW MIXING WITH THE RAIN IN THE
NORTHERN ZONES SUNDAY MORNING AND AGAIN SUNDAY NIGHT. AS THE
WEEKEND SYSTEM DEPARTS A WEAK SURFACE AND MID LEVEL RIDGE MOVES IN
FROM THE WEST MONDAY BUT PROVIDES FOR ONLY SHORT RELIEF FROM THE
ON SHORE FLOW MONDAY AFTERNOON. BY TUESDAY MORNING A 1002MB LOW
MOVES INTO THE NORTHERN GULF FROM THE WEST BRINGING WITH IT MORE
RAIN FOR THE PANHANDLE. ANOTHER LOW DROPS SOUTHEAST OUT OF THE
BERING SEA AND MOVES EAST TOWARD THE PANHANDLE ON WED. WEAK
RIDGING AGAIN ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY FOR A BRIEF REPRIEVE FROM THE
ON SHORE FLOW BEFORE A MORE POWERFUL LOW APPROACHES THE PANHANDLE
ON SATURDAY.
REFRESHED INHERITED GRIDS WITH 4TH AT 00Z GFS. HEAVY BLEND OF
INHERITED GRIDS AND GFS WAS USED FROM SHORT TERM HAND OFF THROUGH
DAY 4 AND WAS THEN BLENDED HEAVIER IN THE LATER PERIODS. 00Z GFS
INITIALIZED WELL AND HAS COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT WITH BOTH
ECMWF AND HPC GUIDANCE. THE 00Z GFS BLENDED VERY NICELY WITH
INHERITED GRIDS AND PROVIDED A NICE TRANSITION AT OUR BORDER WITH
ANC. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH DAY 6 WITH THE EXPECTED
DIFFERENCES IN TIMING AND STRENGTH OF THE SHORTWAVE TROFS AND
RIDGES MOVING THROUGH THE MEAN LONG WAVE TROF OVER THE NORTHERN
PACIFIC THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEK. FOR DAYS 6 THROUGH 8 THE 06Z
GFS DEVELOPS A MUCH STRONGER 987MB LOW AND MOVES IT ONSHORE NEAR
PASI ON SATURDAY AS COMPARED TO THE 00Z GFS WHICH DEVELOPS A 990MB
LOW IN THE CENTRAL GULF. THE LATEST ECMWF DEVELOPS AN EVEN
STRONGER 970MB LOW JUST SOUTH OF PWS.
FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS ABOVE AVERAGE THROUGH DAY 6 AS THE MODELS
ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT ON DEVELOPMENT AND MOVEMENT OF SHORT
WAVE FEATURES. FORECAST CONFIDENCE DROPS TO BELOW AVERAGE BY DAY 6
AS THE MODELS ARE DEMONSTRATING CONSIDERABLE SPREAD ON SOLUTIONS
FOR LATE WEEK SYSTEM.
&&
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM AKDT THIS EVENING FOR AKZ023-027-028.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL NOON AKDT TODAY FOR AKZ020-021-025.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL NOON AKDT TODAY FOR AKZ022.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM AKDT THIS EVENING FOR AKZ019.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 9 AM AKDT THIS MORNING FOR AKZ017.
MARINE...GALE WARNING FOR PKZ022-033-035-036-041>043-051-052.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ011>013-021-031-032-034.
&&
FRITSCH/CCC1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The coop observer in Haines reported that at 7:25 pm, the evening of the 4th, they had received 5.0 inches of snow. Since 8 am that morning there was a storm total for the event of 6 inches with moderate snow continuing to fall.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, April 2009
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: 159642.