Blizzard in Alaska, March 6, 2009

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, March 6, 2009
Start: 2009-03-06T10:00
End: 2009-03-06T17:00
Location: Alaska

March 6, 2009 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong low moved through the central Aleutians producing strong northwest wind and snow in the western Aleutians producing a blizzard.

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 AFC wrote it up.

A strong low moved through the central Aleutians producing strong northwest wind and snow in the western Aleutians producing a blizzard.

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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 6, 5:00 AM AKST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 6, 5:00 AM AKST, 5 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
500 AM AKST FRI MAR 6 2009

.MODEL DISCUSSION...GFS, ECMWF AND NAM IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON BERING
SEA LOW POSITION THROUGH MONDAY...HOWEVER GFS RUNS 5 MB DEEPER ON
EARLY SUNDAY MORNING TO 13 MB ON MONDAY...TEND TO GO WITH GFS
SOLUTION. THE GFS SOLTUION FOR THE FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW OVER
THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS ON SUNDAY TENDS TO BE CONSIDERABLE FASTER THEN
THE OTHER TWO MODELS...REMAINS TO BE SEEN WHICH IS MORE REALISTIC.

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...AT 500 MB A BROAD RIDGE WITH AXIS OVER
THE WEST COAST MOVES NORTHWEARD AND SLIGHTLY TO THE EAST OVER THE
NEXT 48 HOURS. THIS DRIVES SURFACE LOW CURRENTLY IN THE SOUTHERN
BERING UP TOWARD ST. LAWERENCE ISLAND. SECONDARY DEVELOPMENT MONDAY
OVER BRISTOL BAY ALLOWS FRONT TO MOVE INTO THE WESTERN GULF OF AK AS
RIDGE STARTS TO BE UNDERCUT.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
BERING SEA AND SOUTHWEST...THIS LOW DEEPENS AS IT MOVES NORTHWARD
TODAY AND REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY NEAR 62N.
THIS IS A RELATIVE SLOW MOVING SYSTEM AND ITS ASSOICATED FRONT IS
SLOW TO MOVE NORTHEASTWARD AS WELL. A SECONDARY LOW FORMS OVER THE
CENTRAL ALEUTIANS SUNDAY MORNING AND MOVES ALONG THE CHAIN TO THE
EAST

SOUTHCENTRAL...CLEAR/SUNNY SAT AND SUN MORNING WITH LITTLE WIND AS
SURFACE HIGH FORMS OVER THE INTERIOR.  LOOKS AS IF CLOUDS MOVE INTO
THE AREA SUNDAY AFTERNOON.  COULD BE SOME PRECIP SUNDAY NIGHT MAINLY
ALONG THE MOUNTAINS AS REMANANT OF FRONT MOVES OVER AREA.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...
BERING SEA REGION...LOOKS AS IF BERING LOW IS SLOW TO
DISSIPATE...SHOULD SPIN AROUND NORTHERN BERING SEA THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
 NOT MUCH OF INTEREST AT THE SURFACE UNTIL WED NIGHT WHEN NEXT NO PAC
SYSTEM MOVES INTO WESTERN BERING...RIGHT NOW LOOKS AS IF STRONG SW
FLOW IN STORE FOR ALEUTIANS ON THUR.

SOUTHWEST...YET ANOTHER FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA ON MONDAY
EVENING...HOWEVER FROM TUE AFTERNOON THROUGH THU LITTLE OF INTEREST.

SOUTHCENTRAL...WEAKEN FRONT WILL PROBABLE MOVE THROUGH SOMETIME
MONDAY PM BUT AFTER THAT LITTLE OF INTEREST.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZ WARNING 191, BLIZ WATCH 155
MARINE...SEE PACKAGE FOR DETAILS
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

JMP MAR 09

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Western Aleutians

When: March 6, 10:00 AM AKST to 5:00 PM AKST
Where: Western Aleutians forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

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

Every storm in Alaska in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 149746.