A broad complex area of low pressure persisted over the Gulf of Alaska. A small trough of low pressure moved onshore the southwest portion of the Southeast Alaska panhandle.
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.
A broad complex area of low pressure persisted over the Gulf of Alaska. A small trough of low pressure moved onshore the southwest portion of the Southeast Alaska panhandle. Some of the showers were locally heavy as they moved into area affect Baranof Island, Kuiu Island, Kupreanof Island, Prince of Wales Island, and to areas around Clarence Strait.
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 Mar 17, 12:27 PM AKST, 5 hours 33 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
127 PM AKDT TUE MAR 17 2009
.DISCUSSION...IN BACK UP MODE FOR WFO PAJK SO WILL KEEP THIS FAIRLY SHORT.
LARGE TROF WILL REMAIN OVER THE GULF THROUGH LATE WEEK AT LEAST.
SEVERAL SHORTWAVES WILL ROTATE AROUND THE TROF AND IMPACT SE AK
THROUGH LATE WEEK AT LEAST. FIRST SIGNIFICANT SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE
IN FOR LATE TONIGHT AND WED...AND WILL HAVE A SFC LOW DEVELOP WITH
IT. THE LOW WILL TRACK INTO THE SE GULF LATE TONIGHT THEN CROSS
INTO THE CENTRAL PANHANDLE WED BEFORE IT DISSIPATES OVER THE N
AREA WED EVENING. ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT SYSTEM WILL TRACK INTO THE
SE GULF AROUND LATE THU NIGHT OR FRI. ENDED UP USING A BLEND OF
12Z GFS40 AND NAM12 FOR TONIGHT THROUGH THU NIGHT...THEN LEFT FRI
ONWARD AS IS.
KEPT THE WINTER WX ADVYS GOING FOR THE SRN 3 ZONES LATE TONIGHT
AND WED MORNING AS FIRST LOW MOVES IN. ALSO KEPT THE WIND ADVY FOR
THE PAJN AREA FOR A COMBINATION OF OUTFLOW AND A WEAK TAKU WIND.
KEPT WIND ADVY FOR PAGY GOING THROUGH MIDDAY WED AS WELL. WILL
LIKELY ADD WIND ADVY CONDITIONS TO THE WINTER WX ADVY FOR ZONE 27
FOR LATE TONIGHT AND WED AS LOW WILL TRACK BY THEM JUST TO THE W.
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORY ZONES 18...25
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...ZONES 27...28...29
MARINE...GALE WARNING...PKZ011>013-036-041
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...ALL REMAINING WATERS
RWT4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The coop observer in Klawock reported a total of 9 to 10 inches of snow from a 11 hour period of snow showers ending at 6 am on the 18th.
A coop observer in Thorne Bay in along Northern Clarence Strait reported a total of 12.5 inches of snow for a 24 period ending at at 9 am.
Locally heavy snow showers spread onshore Baranof Island in a band, training over the same area, resulting in locally large snowfall amounts. A spotter at 3 pm AKST, reported a snowfall that day of 17.0 inches.
A coop observer in Coffman Cove reported a total from the locally heavy showers at 8 am of 8.0 inches of snow. Showers persisted into the morning. Wrangell reported a total of 6.4 inches of snow from a collection of heavy showers in the early morning.
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, March 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: 158947, 158957, 158917, 158944.