Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, February 21 to 22, 2009

Name: Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, February 21 to 22, 2009
Start: 2009-02-21T08:56
End: 2009-02-22T18:14
Location: Alaska

February 21 to 22, 2009 · NWS AFG · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

A 1047 mb high across northern Alaska on the morning of the 21st gradually shifted east into northern Canada by the morning of the 22nd. A 968 mb low tracked north along the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The toll

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

What happened

The episode as NWS AFG wrote it up.

A 1047 mb high across northern Alaska on the morning of the 21st gradually shifted east into northern Canada by the morning of the 22nd. A 968 mb low tracked north along the Kamchatka Peninsula. A strong pressure gradient between the high and low produced a period of high wind and blizzard conditions along parts of the Bering Sea coast and Chukchi Sea coast.

Zone 207: The visibility at Point Hope was reduced to one quarter mile in blowing snow from the early afternoon hours on the 21st through the early morning hours of the 22nd. The Kivalina ASOS had sustained winds of 35 mph with gusts to 55 mph/48kt, and the visibility was occasionally reduced to one quarter mile in snow and blowing snow.

Zone 209: The visibility at Kotzebue was reduced to one quarter mile or less in heavy snow and blowing snow during the afternoon hours on the 21st. The Kotzebue ASOS had sustained east winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to 45 mph. The visibility was also reduced to one quarter of a mile at times during the evening in heavy snow and blowing snow with wind gusts to 44 kt/51 mph, however, the blizzard conditions only lasted for about an hour during the evening.

Zone 213: The visibility at both Gambell and Savoonga on Saint Lawrence Island was reduced to one quarter of a mile or less in snow and blowing snow from the morning of the 21st through the morning of the 22nd. Along the Bering Strait Coast, the visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow at Wales from the afternoon hours of the 21st through the morning hours of the 22nd. In addition, the wind gusted as high as 65kt/75 mph at the Wales AWSS and to 53kt/61 mph at the Savoonga AWOS on the 22nd.

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 Feb 21, 5:53 AM AKST, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 5:53 AM AKST, 3 hours 3 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
553 AM AKST SAT FEB 21 2009

.DISCUSSION...
THE ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN CONTINUES WITH NO END IN SIGHT FOR THE
NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.  MOST OF THE SIGNIFICANT WEATHER WILL BE FOUND
ALONG THE WEST COAST AND ALONG PARTS OF THE WESTERN ARCTIC COAST.
A STRONG RIDGE WILL REMAIN THE DOMINATE FEATURE ACROSS THE
INTERIOR INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. MODELS REMAIN IN OVERALL GOOD
AGREEMENT FOR THE FIRST 48 TO 60 HOURS...WITH INCREASING SPREAD
EVIDENT BY MONDAY WITH BATCHES OF NORTH PAC AND BERING SEA ENERGY
THAT KNOCK INTO THE STRONG INTERIOR RIDGE.

WEST COAST...THE HIGH IMPACT WEATHER TODAY WILL BE ALONG THE WEST
COAST.  THE STRONG AREA OF LOW PRESSURE THAT WAS WELL SOUTH OF THE
ALEUTIANS 24 HOURS AGO HAS RACED TO THE NORTH AND IS IN THE VCNTY OF
CAPE NAVARYN AS A 982 MB LOW AT 12Z THIS MORNING. THE LOW WILL
WEAKEN TODAY AS A SECOND AND DEEPER LOW LIFTS NNE ALONG THE
KAMCHATKA COAST. A STRONG OCCLUDED FRONT ACROSS THE CENTRAL BERING
SEA EARLY THIS MORNING WILL LIFT NORTH AND EAST TODAY TO THE
BERING SEA COAST LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TO THE CHUKCHI SEA COAST
THIS EVENING. A STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL BE FOUND ALONG THE
WEST COAST AS THERE IS A 1047 MB HIGH ACROSS INTERIOR AK.
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO DEVELOP EARLY THIS
MORNING ON SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND AND WILL SPREAD EAST TO IMPACT
PARTS OF THE WEST COAST TODAY. THE WORST OF THE WEATHER WILL
LIKELY BE ON SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND...THE BERING STRAIT COAST...AND
THE Y-K DELTA COAST. MOST OF THE REMAINING WATCHES WERE UPGRADED
TO WARNINGS...BUT CONFIDENCE IN ZONE 212 IS NOT EXACTLY STELLAR.
HOWEVER...GIVEN THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERAL HOURS OF GROUND BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS AT UNALAKLEET ELECTED TO UPGRADE TO A WARNING.

INTERIOR...RELATIVELY TRANQUIL WEATHER ACROSS MOST OF THE INTERIOR
THIS WEEKEND. AN UPPER RIDGE AXIS IS NEAR 160W AT 12Z THIS
MORNING AND WILL GET NUDGED EAST TODAY AND GET FLATTENED A BIT TON
BEFORE REBOUNDING SUN AHEAD OF THE NEXT WEST COAST SYSTEM. THE
CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR WILL REMAIN DRY WITH ONLY SOME SCRAPS
OF LIGHT SNOW OR FLURRIES LIMPING INTO THE WESTERN INTERIOR
SUN...BUT THE MOISTURE WILL BE FIGHTING THE STRONG RIDGE AND
FLURRIES ARE UNLIKELY TO GET ANY FURTHER EAST THAN TANANA. THE
LIGHT OVERRUNNING SNOW IN PARTS OF THE EASTERN AK RANGE AND UPPER
TANANA VALLEY HAS PRETTY MUCH COME TO AN END...BUT A FEW FLURRIES
OR ISOLATED SHOWER SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING ACROSS THE
EASTERN INTERIOR. THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT RIDGE MAY BREAK
DOWN TUE-WED NEXT WEEK WHICH WOULD INCREASE SNOW PROSPECTS FOR THE
INTERIOR...BUT GIVEN THAT MODELS BEGINS TO DIVERGE WITH SUBSEQUENT
SYSTEMS CONFIDENCE IS NOT GREAT ON ANYTHING MORE THAN LIGHT SNOW
OR FLURRIES JUST YET.

NORTH SLOPE...THE STRONG WLY ALONG THE BEAUFORT SEA COAST WILL
CONTINUE TO DIMINISH THIS MORNING AS A STRONG SURFACE RIDGE
CONTINUES TO EXPAND ACROSS NORTHERN AK AND LOW PRESSURE IN NORTHERN
CANADA WEAKENS AND CONTINUES TO SHIFT EAST. THERE HAS BEEN JUST
ENOUGH WIND AND LOW ENOUGH TEMPERATURES FOR LOW WIND CHILLS
(50 TO 55 BELOW) AT DEADHORSE MOST OF THE NIGHT. THE WIND SHOULD
DIMINISH TO LESS THAN 15 MPH BY NOON AND WILL CARRY A WIND CHILL
ADVISORY FOR ZONE 203 THROUGH THIS MORNING. STILL ENOUGH WIND FOR
SOME BLOWING SNOW AT BARTER ISLAND THIS MORNING...BUT VISIBILITIES
AND WIND CHILLS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE LOW ENOUGH FOR ANY
HEADLINES. ALONG THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN ARCTIC COAST THE WIND
WILL TURN INTO THE E-SE AND BEGIN TO INCREASE TODAY. SOME SNOW AND
BLOWING SNOW LIKELY ALONG PARTS OF THE WESTERN ARCTIC COAST FROM
LATE TODAY INTO TON. IT LOOKS LIKE ENOUGH WIND AND SNOW FROM ABOUT
ICY CAPE SOUTH (POINT LAY TO CAPE LISBURNE) TONIGHT THAT A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED FOR THE SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW.
ALSO POSSIBLY SOME LOW WIND CHILLS FOR A TIME AS THE WIND PICKS
UP...BUT ANY WIND CHILLS CONCERNS WILL BE SHORT LIVED AS TEMPS
CONTINUE TO CLIMB THROUGH TONIGHT. SOME LIGHT SNOW AND BLOWING
SNOW WILL LIKELY MAKE IT AS FAR EAST AS BARROW TON...BUT SHOULD
REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS ALONG THE NORTHERN ARCTIC COAST.

MID-RANGE...A HIGHLY ENERGETIC PATTERN ACROSS THE NORTH PAC AND INTO
THE BERING SEA SHOWS NO SIGNS OF ENDING ANYTIME SOON.  ALTHOUGH
MODEL SPREAD INCREASES NEXT WEEK...IT LOOKS LIKELY THAT ADDITIONAL
WAVES OF BERING SEA ENERGY WILL AFFECT THE WEST COAST NEXT WEEK WITH
ADDITIONAL BOUTS OF WIND AND SNOW.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ203.

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ210-AKZ211.

BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ207-AKZ209-AKZ212-AKZ213-AKZ214.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ201-AKZ208.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230-
PKZ235-PKZ245.
&&

CB FEB 09

Event by event

3 blizzard, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: February 21, 8:56 AM AKST to February 22, 11:43 AM AKST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: February 21, 12:36 PM AKST to February 22, 3:16 AM AKST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: February 21, 2:17 PM AKST to 5:29 PM AKST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

High Wind, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: February 22, 4:21 AM AKST to 6:14 PM AKST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWSS

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.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, February 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: 148557, 148555, 148554, 148559.