Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, November 28 to 30, 2009

Name: Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, November 28 to 30, 2009
Start: 2009-11-28T20:36
End: 2009-11-30T23:59
Location: Alaska

November 28 to 30, 2009 · NWS AFC · 13 events in 9 counties and zones

A major Bering sea storm and the associated front that extended to the Gulf of Alaska produced high winds across the Aleutians and blizzard conditions from the Pribilof Islands to the Bering Sea coast and high wind heavy snow and blizzard conditions across south central Alaska and Prince William Sound. High surf caused extensive damage along Lowell Point road and the shore line around Seward and…

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $51,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 13

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.

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 Nov 28, 3:45 PM AKST, 4 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 28, 3:45 PM AKST, 4 hours 51 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
345 PM AKST SAT NOV 28 2009

.MODEL DISCUSSION...
MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND APPEAR TO BE CONSISTENT WITH
PREVIOUS RUN.

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
UPPER LEVEL...THE UPPER TROUGH ACROSS EASTERN RUSSIA AND WESTERN
ALASKA LINKS UP WITH AN UPPER LOW OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA. AN UPPER
RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL BERING CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST.
AT SURFACE...A STRONG LOW OVER THE SOUTHERN GULF OF ALASKA CONTINUES
TO MOVE NORTHEAST. ANOTHER STRONG STORM SOUTHWEST OF ATTU IS MOVING
TOWARD THE BERING SEA.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
.SOUTH-CENTRAL ALASKA AND THE GULF...THE GULF STORM WILL MOVE ONSHORE
JUST WEST OF YAKUTAT SUNDAY MORNING AND INTO THE YUKON TERRITORY
SUNDAY EVENING. STRONG WINDS ALONG THE CENTRAL GULF COAST AND PRINCE
WILLIAM SOUND WILL DIMINISH TONIGHT. STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS WILL
DEVELOP OVER KODIAK ISLAND AND THE LOWER COOK INLET TONIGHT AND
SUNDAY MORNING THEN WILL DIMINISH SUNDAY NIGHT. RAIN AND SNOW ALONG
THE CENTRAL GULF COAST AND KODIAK ISLAND WILL END FROM THE WEST
TONIGHT. A SECONDARY LOW WILL DEVELOP OVER PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND
SUNDAY THEN DISSIPATE SUNDAY NIGHT. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL
PERSIST AROUND THE SOUND THROUGH EARLY MONDAY MORNING.

SOUTHWEST ALASKA...THE RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL BERING SEA WILL MOVE
INTO SOUTHWEST ALASKA SUNDAY. NORTH WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH
THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. THE WEATHER FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE STORM
MOVING INTO THE BERING WILL MOVE THROUGH THE ALASKA PENINSULA SUNDAY
NIGHT AND INTO THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR MONDAY. AREAS OF GALE FORCE
WINDS WITH STORM FORCE GUST WILL BE FOUND AHEAD OF THE FRONT UNTIL IT
MOVES INLAND MONDAY.

BERING SEA AND ALEUTIANS...A  977 MB LOW JUST SOUTHWEST OF THE
WESTERN ALEUTIANS WILL DEEPEN TO 955 MB OVER THE SOUTH-CENTRAL BERING
SUNDAY EVENING THEN WEAKEN TO 964 MB OVER THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS
MONDAY EVENING. VERY STRONG WINDS WILL DEVELOP AROUND THE CENTER
THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...
THE LOW OVER THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS MONDAY NIGHT WILL DRIFT INTO
BRISTOL BAY TUESDAY NIGHT.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WATCH 185.
         BLIZZARD WARNING 195.
MARINE...HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING...172 175 176 179.
         STORM WARNING...150 155 160 165 170 171 185.
         GALE WARNING...120 130 132 138 180.
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING...130 138 140 160 180 185.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

NM NOV 09

Event by event

6 high wind, 6 blizzard, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Central Aleutians

When: November 28, 8:36 PM AKST to November 29, 7:00 PM AKST
Where: Central Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS

High Wind, Western Aleutians

When: November 29, 2:56 AM AKST to 10:00 PM AKST
Where: Western Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 64 kt (74 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS

High Wind, Central Aleutians

When: November 29, 7:00 AM AKST to 9:00 AM AKST
Where: Central Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 66 kt (76 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Buoy

Blizzard, Eastern Aleutians

When: November 29, 10:00 AM AKST to 1:00 PM AKST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

High Wind, Eastern Aleutians

When: November 29, 11:50 AM AKST to 2:00 PM AKST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 82 kt (94 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Pribilof Islands

When: November 29, 12:45 PM AKST to 8:00 PM AKST
Where: Pribilof Islands forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard, Bristol Bay

When: November 29, 8:00 PM AKST to November 30, 1:15 PM AKST
Where: Bristol Bay forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Kuskokwim Delta

When: November 30, 3:55 AM AKST to 4:00 PM AKST
Where: Kuskokwim Delta forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard, Pribilof Islands

When: November 30, 9:14 AM AKST to 5:00 PM AKST
Where: Pribilof Islands forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns

When: November 30, 10:00 AM AKST to 10:00 PM AKST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

High Wind, Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek

When: November 30, 6:00 PM AKST to 7:00 PM AKST
Where: Anchorage Muni to Bird Creek forecast zone
Measured: 72 kt (83 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind, Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns

When: November 30, 9:00 PM AKST to 11:00 PM AKST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Measured: 78 kt (90 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Heavy Snow, Susitna Valley

When: November 30, 9:00 PM AKST to 11:59 PM AKST
Where: Susitna Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Spotters from the Susitna Valley reported snow fall totals as high as 37 inches.

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
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.
Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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, November 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: 198253, 198254, 198258, 198257, 198256, 198252, 198303, 198305, 198304, 198306, 198302, 198307, 198378.