Blizzard, Chukchi Sea Coast
- When
- March 26, 4:00 AM AKST to March 27, 10:53 AM AKST
- Where
- Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
Blizzard in Alaska, March 26 to 27, 2009
A 975 mb low in the northern Gulf of Alaska combined with a 1048 mb high across central Russia to produce strong winds and blizzard conditions along portions of the Chukchi Sea coast from the early morning hours on the 26th through the morning hours on the 27th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less at Kivalina in snow and blowing snow.
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 975 mb low in the northern Gulf of Alaska combined with a 1048 mb high across central Russia to produce strong winds and blizzard conditions along portions of the Chukchi Sea coast from the early morning hours on the 26th through the morning hours on the 27th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less at Kivalina in snow and blowing snow. A peak wind gust of 61 mph/53kt was observed at the Kivalina ASOS.
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 26, 2:18 AM AKST, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 26, 2:18 AM AKST, 1 hour 42 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 318 AM AKDT THU MAR 26 2009 .DISCUSSION... MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. A 978 MB LOW JUST NORTH OF KODIAK ISLAND THIS MORNING WILL MOVE INLAND ALONG THE SOUTHERN ALASKA COAST AS A 986 MB CENTER TONIGHT. THIS HAS CAUSED INCREASED PRESSURE GRADIENT AND WINDY CONDITIONS THROUGH ALASKA RANGE PASSES. THE UPPER SUPPORT IS FALLING APART FOR THESE WINDS TO CONTINUE AND THE WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONE 225 WILL END THIS MORNING WHILE THE WIND ADVISORY FOR PASSES WEST OF THE TOK CUTOFF IN ZONE 226 IS EXPECTED TO END BY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS, BLOWING SNOW AND LOW WIND CHILLS WILL PERSIST ALONG PORTIONS OF THE DALTON HIGHWAY IN THE INTERIOR THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. SNOW SHOWERS WILL BREAK OUT IN MOST OF THE INTERIOR AS OVERRUNNING DEVELOPS THERE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. THE ARCTIC COAST WILL SEE ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS AND AREAS OF FOG THROUGH FRIDAY. WESTERN ALASKA WILL SEE WINDY CONDITIONS WITH BLOWING SNOW...ZONE 207 IS COLD ENOUGH TO SEE LOW WIND CHILLS...AND A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL RUN THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING THERE. AS THE REX BLOCK FROM THE NORTHERN SEA OF OKHOTSK SOUTH TO NORTHERN JAPAN BREAKS DOWN THIS WEEKEND IT WILL ALLOW THE UPPER AIR PATTERN TO RETROGRADE WITH THE MEAN TROUGH TO SLIDE WEST INTO THE BERING SEA. ANA ACTIVE NORTH PAC JET WILL CONTINUE TO STEER STORMS SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS AND INTO THE NORTHERN GULF OF ALASKA AND THEN INTO THE SOUTHERN ALASKA COAST. THE MODELS AND ENSEMBLES ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT ANOTHER DEEP SYSTEM WILL LIFT INTO THE NORTHERN GULF SUNDAY AND WEAKEN ACROSS THE SOUTHERN MAINLAND MONDAY. MODELS AND ENSEMBLES ALSO AGREE THAT ANOTHER STRONG LOW WILL FOLLOW A SIMILAR TRACK TUE-WED OF NEXT WEEK...BUT SIGNIFICANT TIMING DIFFERENCES SHOW UP WITH THE OPERATIONAL GFS BEING MUCH FASTER THAN THE MAJORITY OF THE ENSEMBLES AND SIGNIFICANTLY DEEPER AND FASTER AND FURTHER NORTH THAN THE ECMWF. OVERALL THIS PATTERN WILL FEATURE NEAR AVERAGE TEMPS WEST OF 155W. THE BEST CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST ZONES AND INTO THE AK RANGE. TEMPS GENERALLY COLD ENOUGH TO KEEP ANY PRECIPITATION IN THE FORM OF SNOW...WITH PERHAPS SOME RAIN IN PARTS OF THE AK RANGE. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ217-AKZ226. WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ205. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ207-AKZ218. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ220. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ215-PKZ225-PKZ230. && RL 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
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in New Mexico, March 26 to 27, 2009
- Blizzard in Texas, March 26 to 28, 2009
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Alabama, March 26, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, March 26, 2009
- Blizzard in Oklahoma, March 26 to 28, 2009
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Alabama, March 26, 2009
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, March 26, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, March 26, 2009
- Damaging Winds in Alabama, March 26, 2009
- High Wind in Arizona, March 26, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, March 26, 2009
- Strong Wind in Arizona, March 26, 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: 153161.