Alaska, 2009Heavy Snow in Alaska, December 24 to 25, 2009
December 24 to 25, 2009 · NWS AJK · 1 event in 1 county or zone
Another huge storm developed well south of the Alaska Peninsula on 12/24 on the heels of a Gulf Low. The associated front moved slowly onto the coast on 12/25 bringing heavy snow to the Haines area.
- 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.
Another huge storm developed well south of the Alaska Peninsula on 12/24 on the heels of a Gulf Low. The associated front moved slowly onto the coast on 12/25 bringing heavy snow to the Haines area. later on the night of 12/24 through the morning of 12/25. The snow mixed with rain and freezing rain later on 12/25.
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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 24, 2:04 PM AKST, 6 hours 58 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 24, 2:04 PM AKST, 6 hours 58 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
204 PM AKST THU DEC 24 2009
.SHORT TERM... ANALYSIS - MAJOR UPR LOW CENTER WELL S OF COLD
BAY THIS MORNING WITH NOT VERY COLD AIR ALF. SOME -32C AT 500 HPA
ADVECTING INTO THE SYSTEM FROM THE NEXT LOW UPSTREAM. A 960 MB
STORM CENTER IS STACKED UNDER THIS MAJOR WITH A MATURE OCCLUDED
FRONT WITH THE MASSIVE WARM SECTOR EVER S & E OF 55N 140W. A
MONDO ZONAL JET AT 250 HPA STARTS AT THE RED SEA WITH A 90 DEGREE
EXIT SPLIT AT 35N 140W. THE SOUTH BRANCH OF THIS JET IS LOADED
WITH TROPICAL MOISTURE. LOOK AT A MERCATOR PROJECTION OF WATER
VAPOR AND THE CONNECTION IS ALMOST FROM NEW GUINEA. WATER AND
WARM AIR RULES.
IT IS HOLIDAY JOY THAT THE 12Z OPS MODELS ARE IN VERY GOOD
AGREEMENT IN HANDLING THE WARM AIR AND ALL OF THIS MOISTURE THRU
48 HOURS. WILL USE 12Z AK-GFS-40 AS GOOD AS ANY FOR GRIDS WITH
SREF FOR QPF AND POPS. NOTE THAT MAIN SFC LOW IS FILLING THOUGH
STATIONARY FOR A LAST FRONT COMING UP TO THE COAST EARLY FRI
EVENG. WILL HAVE TO KEEP SOME SMALL CRAFT AND GALE WINDS
PRE-FRONTAL ON FRI. 12Z GFS BOUNDARY LAYER WIND SEZ BARRIER JET N
GULF COAST FRI...SUPPORTED BY 925 AND 850 HPA WIND PROGS. 18Z GFS
AND NAM SAY SOLID 45 KT SO WILL STICK TO A STORM WARNING ISSUED
EARLIER. WILL KEEP NIGHTTIME TEMPS WARMING TO OR ABOVE 32F AND
WILL HAVE A HARD LOOK AT FREEZING & SNOW LEVELS. RAIN IS THE MAIN
WORD FOR THE DAY.
&&
.LONG TERM...FORECAST MODELS WERE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT AT
LEAST TO 00Z SUNDAY AND THEN THE GFS SOLUTION WAS THE ODD MAN OUT
AS IT DEVELOPED A SURFACE LOW OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA.
FROM THAT TIME FRAME LEANED MORE TO TOWARDS THE HPC GUIDANCE WHICH
WAS PRIMARILY INFLUENCE BY ENSEMBLE MEANS AND ONE OF THEM WAS THE
ECMWF ENSEMBLE MEAN.
PREDOMINATE WEATHER FEATURE INTO NEXT WEEK IS AREA OF LOW PRESSURE THAT
IS ANCHORED SOUTH OF THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS WITH A WEAK OR JUST
STRONG ENOUGH RIDGE OVER WESTERN CANADA. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST FLOW
IS THE EXPECTED FLOW SO NO MAJOR COOLING EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA.
PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE RAIN...WITH SOME LOCALLY MIXED IN SNOW.
CONFIDENCE IN THE FORECAST IS GOOD THROUGH SATURDAY BUT THEN
DIMINISHES AS THE MAIN TREND IS THERE IT WILL BE THE MATTER OF
TIMING SMALLER FEATURES THAT ENSEMBLE MEANS CAN NOT DEPICT SMALL
SCALE FEATURES.
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM AKST FRIDAY FOR AKZ027.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM AKST THIS EVENING FOR AKZ022-023.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM AKST THIS EVENING FOR AKZ019.
MARINE...STORM WARNING FOR PKZ051-052.
GALE WARNING FOR PKZ022-036-041>043.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ011>013-021-031>035-053.
&&
JCC/BEZENEKHeavy Snow, Haines Borough and Lynn Canal
- When
- December 24, 9:02 PM AKST to December 25, 4:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Haines Borough and Lynn Canal forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
Snow amounts around Haines were highly variable. The deepest new snowfall was downtown Haines where a spotter measured 8.7 inches of new snow for 24 hours ending at 0800 AKST on 12/25. When compared to the Haines Airport ASOS, the heavy snow was during a period of 6 hours in the early morning. The snow started to turn to rain around 1100 AKST on 12/25 for a real, slushy mess.
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Texas, December 24, 20096 deaths · $2.1 million · 26 events
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Oklahoma, December 24, 20093 deaths · $2.1 million · 42 events
- Winter Storm in Oklahoma, December 24 to 25, 20093 deaths · 19 events
- Tornadoes and Flooding in Louisiana, December 24, 20091 death · 4 injured · $5.8 million · EF2 · 25 events
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, December 24 to 25, 20092 deaths · 11 events
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Nebraska, December 24 to 27, 20091 death · 60 events
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Texas, December 24 to 25, 20091 death · 5 injured · 11 events
- Flash Flooding and Debris Flows in Puerto Rico, December 24 to 25, 2009$5.8 million · 39 events
- Extreme Cold in Montana, December 24, 20091 death · 1 event
- Winter Storm in Iowa, December 24 to 25, 2009$1.4 million · 25 events
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Louisiana, December 24, 20091 injured · $175,000 · EF1 · 16 events
- Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in Arkansas, December 24, 2009$558,000 · 6 events
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: 207018.