A gale force low pressure system over the north central Gulf of Alaska on 11/01 was stationary with numerous bands of heavy showers moving east to west associated with minor troughs. The showers continued bring locally heavy snowfall amounts throughout the day.
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 gale force low pressure system over the north central Gulf of Alaska on 11/01 was stationary with numerous bands of heavy showers moving east to west associated with minor troughs. The showers continued bring locally heavy snowfall amounts throughout the day. WSO Yakutat reported 7.5 inches of new snowfall for 12 hours ending at 4 pm on 11/01.
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 Nov 1, 4:58 AM AKST, 5 hours 12 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
458 AM AKST SUN NOV 1 2009
.SHORT TERM...A BROAD LOW PRESSURE AREA WILL REMAIN OVER THE
CENTRAL AND NRN GULF THROUGH TONIGHT. A LOW PRESSURE TROF WILL
MOVE NE INTO THE ERN GULF BY LATE AFTERNOON...THEN MOVE SLOWLY
ONSHORE TONIGHT.
MAIN FORECAST CONCERN WILL BE PTYPE OVER THE NRN AREAS.
ATTM...PRECIP IS MIXED OR SNOW OVER THE NRN THIRD OF THE AREA.
AIRMASS WILL GRADUALLY WARM THROUGH THE DAY UNDER WEAK WARM
ADVECTION AND DIURNAL WARMING...SO AM EXPECTING ALL BUT THE FAR
NRN AREA TO CHANGE TO ALL RAIN THIS AFTERNOON. COULD SEE A LOCAL
ACCUMULATION UP TO AN INCH BEFORE THE CHANGEOVER OCCURS. THE WEAK
WARM ADVECTION WILL PERSIST INTO TONIGHT...BUT AS TROF
APPROACHES...LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL TURN MORE OFFSHORE OVER THE FAR
N...SO NOT EXPECTING THEM TO COMPLETELY CHANGE OVER TO RAIN...IN
FACT THEY WILL LIKELY GO BACK TO ALL SNOW LATER TONIGHT. THIS
INCLUDES THE PAYA AREA WHERE PTYPE IN BORDERLINE SITUATIONS LIKE
THIS ONE IS ESPECIALLY SENSITIVE TO THE LOW LEVEL WIND
DIRECTION...AND EXPECT WINDS TO BECOME ENE THERE TONIGHT...WHICH
WOULD CAUSE THE RAIN TO GO BACK TO SNOW. MAY SEE 1 TO 3 INCHES OF
WET SNOW AROUND PAYA...AND A COUPLE INCHES AROUND HAINES TONIGHT.
OTHERWISE...PRES GRADIENTS WILL TIGHTEN SLOWLY THRU THE DAY AS
THE LOW PRES TROF MOVES CLOSER. THERE MAY EVEN BE A SMALL LOW
FORMING ON THE TROF OVER THE ERN GULF LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
WOULD INCREASE WINDS A BIT MORE S OF THE LOW TRACK. ENDED UP GOING
WITH SCA LEVEL E WINDS OUT OF ICY STRAIT AND CROSS SOUND MUCH OF
TODAY AND TONIGHT...WITH SCA LEVEL SE WINDS LIKELY IN CLARENCE
STRAIT TONIGHT. OVER THE OUTER WATERS...MAY SEE SCA LEVEL WINDS
THRU THIS EVENING AS TROF APPROACHES. SEAS WILL REMAIN ROUGH ON
OUTER WATERS SO MOST AREAS WILL REMAIN WITH SCA DUE TO SEAS WHEN
THE WINDS ARE LESS THAN SCA LEVELS.
&&
.LONG TERM...WEAKENING LOW IN THE GULF OF ALASKA PERSISTS INTO
MONDAY. A CUT OFF LOW MOVE SOUTH FROM THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS INTO
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC WITH A FAIRLY STRONG LOW MOVING ACROSS THE
BERING SEA. A FRONTAL BAND WILL SPREAD INTO THE WESTERN GULF ON
TUESDAY FROM THE LOW NORTH OF THE PRIBALOF ISLANDS. MEANWHILE A
STRONGER DEVELOPING WAVE FROM EAST OF JAPAN IS WORKING ITS WAIN
THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW AND WILL GET PULLED INTO THE SOUTH PORTION OF
THIS FEATURE DEVELOPING SIGNIFICANTLY TUESDAY NIGHT AS IT MOVES
ALONG THE ALASKA PENINSULA TO ROUGHLY A 950 MB LOW EAST OF KODIAK
ISLAND BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THE VIGOROUS FRONT WILL SPREAD STORM
FORCE OR GALE FORCE WINDS OVER THE GULF AND INTO THE EASTERN GULF
WEDNESDAY. THE FRONT AND MOISTURE ABOUT THE LOW WILL MOVE THROUGH
SOUTHEAST ALASKA THE LATER HALF OF THE WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND.
THERE WARMING AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM SHOULD REMOVE THE COOLER AIR
OVER THE SOUTHEAST ALASKA PANHANDLE BUT IT LOOKS AS IF IT WILL
COME RACING BACK IN FROM OVER THE NORTHERN GULF BEHIND THE LOW AS
IT TRIES TO JUMP INLAND AROUND PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND.
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ021-022-036-042-043-051-052.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY DUE TO SEAS FOR PKZ041.
&&
RWT/BEZENEK1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow. WSO Yakutat observed 7.5 inches of new snow for 12 hours ending at 4 PM on 11/01.
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, November 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: 200952.