Alaska, 2009

Extreme Cold in Alaska, March 29, 2009

March 29, 2009 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Temperatures of 25 to 30 below combined with a northeast wind of 20 to 30 mph to produce wind chills as low as 64 below at Point Lay and 61 below at Atqasuk during the morning and early afternoon hours on the 29th.

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 25 to 30 below combined with a northeast wind of 20 to 30 mph to produce wind chills as low as 64 below at Point Lay and 61 below at Atqasuk during the morning and early afternoon hours on the 29th.

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 29, 3:50 AM AKST, 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 29, 3:50 AM AKST, 6 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
450 AM AKDT SUN MAR 29 2009

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS CONTINUE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH TUE. A 967 MB LOW
LOCATED OVER BRISTOL BAY WILL LIFT NORTH ALONG THE WEST COAST OF
ALASKA TO NORTON SOUND BY MON MORNING AND WEAKEN TO 985 MB. IT
WILL THEN MOVE TO KOTZEBUE SOUND BY LATE MON EVENING AS A 994 MB
CENTER. THIS STORM WILL BRING 3 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW TO THE
SOUTHWESTERN SECTIONS OF THE CWA AS FAR NORTH AS A BUCKLAND TO
GALENA LINE TODAY AND TONIGHT. GREATEST AMOUNTS WILL BE OVER
HIGHER TERRAIN. STRONG WINDS WITH BLOWING SNOW WILL PRODUCE
LOCALLY POOR VISIBILITY ALSO. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE OUT
THROUGH MON MORNING FOR THAT AREA.

THE ARCTIC COAST WILL SEE PARTY CLOUDY SKIES AND INCREASING WINDS.
PATCHY MORNING FOG WILL GIVE WAY TO AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AS THE
GRADIENT TIGHTENS AND THE LOW MOVES NORTH. A WIND CHILL WARNING IS
OUT FOR ZONE 201 AS COLD TEMPS AND INCREASED WINDS ARE PRODUCING
WIND CHILLS TO 55 BELOW THIS MORNING. CONDITIONS WILL BE LESS
HARSH IN THE AFTERNOON AS TEMPS WARM.

THE INTERIOR WILL SEE FLURRIES AND PATCHY FOG THROUGH MON MORNING.
A CHANCE OF SNOW MOVES WEST TO EAST INTO THE INTERIOR STARTING MON
AFTERNOON WITH LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS. WIND ADVISORIES FOR ALASKA
RANGE PASSES THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH WINDS AROUND 65 MPH IN THE
ANTLER CREEK AREA OF ZONE 225. WINDS IN THE DELTA JUNCTION AREA
WILL SEE 45 MPH TODAY BEFORE DIMINISHING LATER TONIGHT.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ201.

WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ225-AKZ226.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ215-AKZ216.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ220.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-
PKZ230-PKZ235-PKZ240-PKZ245.
&&

RL MAR 09

Event by event

1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Arctic Coast

When
March 29, 3:56 AM AKST to 1:30 PM AKST
Where
Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS

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

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: 152643.