Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- March 2, 1:36 AM AKST to 12:36 PM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, March 2, 2009
A 986 mb low in the northern Bering Sea and a 1027 mb high across interior Alaska produced a strong pressure gradient that produced|a period of blizzard conditions on Saint Lawrence on the 2nd. Zone 213: Blizzard conditions were observed at Gambell during the morning and early afternoon hours on the 2nd.
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.
A 986 mb low in the northern Bering Sea and a 1027 mb high across interior Alaska produced a strong pressure gradient that produced|a period of blizzard conditions on Saint Lawrence on the 2nd.
Zone 213: Blizzard conditions were observed at Gambell during the morning and early afternoon hours on the 2nd. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. A peak wind gust of 47 mph/41kt was observed at the Gambell AWOS.
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 Mar 1, 2:11 PM AKST, 11 hours 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 1, 2:11 PM AKST, 11 hours 25 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 211 PM AKST SUN MAR 1 2009 .DISCUSSION... MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH ABOUT 48 HOURS. WELL DEFINED COLD FRONT MOVING EAST ACROSS NORTHERN TIER OF THE STATE. BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...LEAVING ONLY SCATTERED CLOUDS AND A FEW CONVECTIVE FLURRIES IN THE INTERIOR. THE ARCTIC SLOPE IS STILL FEELING THE RESULTS OF THE STRONG COLD ADVECTION WITH THE WIND CHILLS DOWN TO NEAR 50 BELOW TO USHER IN THE MONTH OF MARCH. EASTERN ARCTIC SLOPE IS STILL UNDER BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH VISIBILITIES AT ZERO AND WINDS GUSTING OVER 40 MPH. THESE CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY LAST THROUGH THIS EVENING BEFORE SPREADING TO THE FAR EASTERN ARCTIC COAST. MEANWHILE THE WEST COAST IS EXPERIENCING UNRESTRICTED CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES ON THE HEELS OF THE COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE. THE NEXT LOW IS MOVING INTO THE BERING SEA AND WILL LIKELY IMPACT SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND BEGINNING TONIGHT WITH BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ONCE AGAIN. THESE CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY ONLY AFFECT PORTIONS OF ZONE 213 AND TO A LESSER DEGREE THE YUKON DELTA. SOME SNOWFALL WILL BE SEEN OVER MOST AREAS OF THE WEST COAST BUT WILL NOT LIKELY BE SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS. THEN THE NEXT SUBSTANTIAL LOW WILL MOVE ONTO THE WEST COAST WEDNESDAY AND SPREAD BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVER MOST OF THE AREA. THIS SNOW WILL SPREAD EAST TO THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STATE WITH A POTENTIAL DROPPING A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF SNOW GIVEN THE STRONG SOUTHWEST FLOW. CONTINUE TO STAY TUNED FOR THIS EVENT. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ203-AKZ204-AKZ213. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ202-AKZ214. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ230-PKZ235- PKZ240-PKZ245. && CF MAR 09
Event by event
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Avalanche and Heavy Snow in California, March 2 to 4, 2009
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in New York, March 2, 2009
- High Wind and Strong Wind in New Jersey, March 2, 2009
- Strong Wind in Maryland, March 2, 2009
- High Wind and Strong Wind in Delaware, March 2, 2009
- Winter Weather in Vermont, March 2 to 3, 2009
- Wildfire in Texas, March 2, 2009
- Heavy Snow in Maine, March 2, 2009
- Extreme Cold in Pennsylvania, March 2 to 3, 2009
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Maine, March 2, 2009
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Nevada, March 2 to 4, 2009
- Heavy Snow in Connecticut, March 2, 2009
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 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: 149528.