Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- February 4, 2:55 AM AKST to February 5, 11:55 AM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Extreme Cold in Alaska, February 4 to 5, 2009
Temperatures of 20 to 35 below zero combined with a north to northeast wind of 25 to 40 mph to produce wind chills as low as 74 below zero along the Bering Strait coast during the 4th through the morning hours of the 5th. Here are the lowest wind chills that were observed: Tin City AWOS: 74 below|Wales AWIS: 65 below.
The toll
- 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.
What happened
The episode as NWS AFG wrote it up.
Temperatures of 20 to 35 below zero combined with a north to northeast wind of 25 to 40 mph to produce wind chills as low as 74 below zero along the Bering Strait coast during the 4th through the morning hours of the 5th. Here are the lowest wind chills that were observed:
Tin City AWOS: 74 below|Wales AWIS: 65 below.
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 4, 1:52 AM AKST, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 4, 1:52 AM AKST, 1 hour 3 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 152 AM AKST WED FEB 4 2009 .DISCUSSION... MODERATION IN TEMPERATURES ALOFT CONTINUES TO BE ON TRACK FOR THE INTERIOR AND MOST OF THE WEST COAST. A SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL BE ESTABLISHED OVER THE INTERIOR AND THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE WEST COAST BY THU AFTERNOON. COLD AIR ALOFT NOW OVER THE INTERIOR WILL BE PUSHED NORTHWARD AND WESTWARD...BY FRI THE COLDEST AIR WILL BE OVER THE CHUKCHI SEA...CENTRAL AND NORTHERN BERING SEA...AND CHUKOTKA. THE MODERATING TEMPERATURES ALOFT...ALONG WITH CLOUD COVER SPREADING NORTH...SHOULD RESULT IN SOME MODERATION OF TEMPERATURES AT THE SURFACE TO MORE SEASONABLE NUMBERS. A 968 MB LOW NORTH OF THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK TOWARDS THE EAST NORTHEAST...FILLING TO AROUND 980 MB NEAR DALL POINT BY EARLY FRI MORNING. SNOW WILL DEVELOP OVER AKZ214- AKZ215-SOUTHERN AKZ216 WED NIGHT...SPREADING TO THE REMAINDER OF AKZ216-WESTERN AKZ219-WESTERN AKZ221 THU. IN AKZ215... SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 5-7 INCHES POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND THU... WILL PUT UP WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FOR AKZ215. SOUTH WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN ALASKA RANGE PASSES THIS AFTERNOON...CONTINUING FRI. WIND SPEEDS ARE LIKELY TO APPROACH OR REACH ADVISORY LEVELS THU IN THE NORMALLY WINDY AREAS. WIND ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST ARE EXPECTED TO SLOWLY INCREASE LATER TODAY THROUGH THU...WITH MOST AREAS REACHING 20 OR 25 MPH BY THU AFTERNOON. WIND CHILL TO -40F OR COLDER IS LIKELY OVER MOST AREAS OF THE ARCTIC COAST BY THU AFTERNOON AS WIND SPEEDS INCREASE WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE -15F TO -25F RANGE. ECMF/GFS MODEL RESULTS BEGIN TO DIVERGE CONSIDERABLY SAT AND BEYOND. UNCERTAINTY IN THE MEDIUM RANGE OUTLOOK IS ABOVE AVERAGE. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ212-AKZ213. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ215. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210. && RF FEB 09
Event by event
1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
- Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Extreme Cold in Ohio, February 4 to 6, 2009
- Frost and Freeze in Florida, February 4 to 6, 2009
- Winter Weather in Maryland, February 4, 2009
- Winter Weather in South Carolina, February 4, 2009
- Extreme Cold in Pennsylvania, February 4, 2009
- Winter Storm in South Carolina, February 4, 2009
- Winter Weather in South Carolina, February 4, 2009
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 4, 2009
- Wildfire in Texas, February 4, 2009
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 145022.