Blizzard in Alaska, December 20 to 21, 2009

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, December 20 to 21, 2009
Start: 2009-12-20T03:16
End: 2009-12-21T11:56
Location: Alaska

December 20 to 21, 2009 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 968 mb low near Adak at 900 am AKST on the 19th deepened to 960 mb between the Pribilof Islands and Saint Matthew Island by 3 am AKST on the 20th. A second stronger low developed near the Alaska Peninsula by 3 am AKST on the 21st, and deepened to 952 mb near Saint Matthew Island by 3 pm AKST on the 21st. The first low brought a period of blizzard conditions to Gambell on the morning of the 20th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. The wind gusted as high as 42kt/48 mph at the Gambell AWOS. The second low brought snow and reduced the visibility to one quarter of a mile at times, but blizzard conditions were not observed.

The second low brought a period of blizzard conditions to Selawik on the morning of the 21st. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile in snow and blowing snow. The wind gusted as high as 35 kt/40 mph at the Selawik AWOS. The visibility at Kotzebue during this event briefly dropped to one quarter of a mile, but during most of the event was one half mile or better. The wind gusted as high as 41kt/47 mph at the Kotzebue ASOS.

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 Dec 19, 2:25 PM AKST, 12 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 19, 2:25 PM AKST, 12 hours 51 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
225 PM AKST SAT DEC 19 2009

.SYNOPSIS...
AT THE 500 MB LEVEL A RIDGE CONTINUES TO BUILD IN NEAR THE ALCAN
BORDER. THIS RIDGE IS PUSHING THE THE ELONGATED LOW OVER ST.
LAWRENCE ISLAND FARTHER TO THE WEST. TONIGHT THIS LOW WILL
CONTINUE TO WEAKEN AND MOVE TO THE WEST. MODELS INITIALLY ARE IN
GOOD AGREEMENT...BUT BY LATE SUNDAY MODEL SOLUTIONS BEGIN TO
DIVERGE IN HANDLING THE LOW ON THE WEST COAST GIVING LOW
CONFIDENCE FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK. MID WEEK THE MODELS CONTINUE TO
DIVERGE IN BREAKING DOWN THE RIDGE OVER THE ALCAN BORDER.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

ON THE WEST COAST AT 18Z A 966 LOW NEAR ADAK IS PROGGED TO MOVED UP
TO NEAR ST. MATTHEW ISLAND BY SUNDAY MORNING. THIS WILL BRING
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TO THE WEST COAST SO BLIZZARD WARNINGS HAVE
BEEN ISSUED FOR 211...213...214...210 AND 209. HEAVY SNOW IS
EXPECTED ACROSS THE NULATO HILLS SO WINTER STORM WARNINGS HAVE
BEEN ISSUED FOR 212...215 AND 216. THE MODELS ARE IN GOOD
AGREEMENT THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY. SUNDAY INTO THE MONDAY THE MODELS
ALL HAVE SEVERAL LOW PRESSURE CENTERS...BUT HANDLE THEM IN
DIFFERENT WAYS. MOST SOLUTIONS HAVE MORE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS FOR
THE WEST COAST...BUT THE TIMING IS DIFFICULT TO PIN DOWN AFTER
SUNDAY.

ACROSS THE INTERIOR THE RIDGE ALOFT CONTINUES TO BUILD IN. A STRONG
INVERSION IS SETTING UP. ESTHER DOME IS AT 5 BELOW AT NOON WHILE
THE AIRPORT REMAINS AT 29 BELOW. THIS INVERSION WILL CONTINUE TO
STRENGTHEN THROUGH THE NIGHT WITH THE HILLS WARMING TO WELL ABOVE
ZERO BY MORNING. SOME WARMING IS EXPECTED AT THE LOWER ELEVATIONS AS
WELL WITH CLOUDS MOVING IN. MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT THAT
THE RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK.
AFTER THIS THERE IS SOME DISAGREEMENT IN HOW QUICKLY IT BREAKS
DOWN.THE GFS RAPIDLY MOVES IN A LOW...WHILE THE ECMF GRADUALLY
SHIFTS THE RIDGE OFF TO THE EAST. THE ECMF LOOKS MORE CREDIBLE AS
IT SEEMS UNLIKELY THE RIDGE WILL BREAK DOWN VERY FAST. THIS
RIDGE IS ALSO CREATING CHINOOK FLOW THROUGH THE ALASKA RANGE
PASSES. ANTLER CREEK RWIS HAS REPORTED GUSTS TO 58 MPH. WINDY
CONDITIONS IN THE ALASKA RANGE ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH
THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK.

ACROSS THE NORTH THERE ARE SOME LINGERING SHOWERS ALONG THE COAST.
THESE WILL BE MOVING OUT THIS EVENING AS THE UPPER TROUGH LIFTS
OUT. TONIGHT THERE SHOULD BE AT LEAST SOME PARTIAL CLEARING. A
WARMER AIR MASS WILL LIFT NORTH SUNDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AS THE
UPPER RIDGE BUILDS NORTH. POTENTIAL FOR SOME ACCUMULATING SNOW IN
PARTS OF THE WESTERN BROOKS RANGE AND WESTERN ARCTIC COAST SUN
NIGHT AND MONDAY AS THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW
IN THE BERING SEA LIFTS NORTH.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
BLIZZARD WATCH FOR AKZ207-AKZ209-AKZ210-AKZ211.

WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ209-AKZ210.

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ212-AKZ215-AKZ216.

BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ213-AKZ214.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ225.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-
PKZ230-PKZ235.
&&

MKK DEC 09

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: December 20, 3:16 AM AKST to 8:16 AM AKST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: December 21, 5:56 AM AKST to 11:56 AM AKST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

What these are

Blizzard: Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, December 2009

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: 200598, 200597.