Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- December 20, 6:00 PM AKST to December 22, 12:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- Law Enforcement
Blizzard in Alaska, December 20 to 22, 2010
A 1008 mb low just offshore of Barter Island combined with a 1036 mb high in the Chukchi Sea to produce blizzard conditions along the eastern Beaufort Sea Coast from approximately 1800AKST on the 20th through 1200AKST on the 22nd. According to reports from law enforcement the visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less with white-out conditions at times.
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 1008 mb low just offshore of Barter Island combined with a 1036 mb high in the Chukchi Sea to produce blizzard conditions along the eastern Beaufort Sea Coast from approximately 1800AKST on the 20th through 1200AKST on the 22nd. According to reports from law enforcement the visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less with white-out conditions at times. According to reports from both law enforcement and the public the blizzard was not as severe as the one that occurred on December 14th-15th. A peak wind gust of 53 kt (61 mph) was observed at the Barter Island AWSS.
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 Dec 20, 12:06 PM AKST, 5 hours 54 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 20, 12:06 PM AKST, 5 hours 54 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 1206 PM AKST MON DEC 20 2010 .DISCUSSION... CURRENT GFS/NAM/EUROPEAN/CANADIAN MODEL RUNS AGREE WELL OUT THROUGH THU AFTERNOON. UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD AND MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS THE BERING TUE INTO WED... BUT THEN BE SQUASHED DOWN BY A VIGOROUS SHORT WAVE AS IT MOVES INTO THE WESTERN ALASKA INTERIOR. ASSOCIATED SURFACE SYSTEM PROGGED TO TRACK NORTHEASTWARD THEN EASTWARD ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN SIBERIA...ARRIVING IN THE CHUKOTKA/BERING STRAIT AREA BY THU MORNING. SNOW FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE BERING STRAIT/WEST COAST AREAS LATE WED NIGHT THROUGH THU NIGHT. THERE IS LITTLE CHANCE OF ANY SNOW SPREADING FARTHER TO THE EAST WITH THE SYSTEM DIVING SOUTHWARD AND DISSIPATING RAPIDLY AFTER IT REACHES THE ALASKA WEST COAST. BEHIND THE SURFACE SYSTEM...STRONG 1055-1060 MB HIGH PRESSURE DOME DEVELOPING OVER EASTERN RUSSIA WITH STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENTS AND COLD ADVECTION DEVELOPING OVER THE BERING STRAIT/NORTHWEST ALASKA/BROOKS RANGE. BRISK WINDS AND LOW WIND CHILL WILL LIKELY BE ISSUES IN THESE AREAS BEGINNING AROUND FRI. COLD AIR AIR MASS WILL LIKELY BE ENTRENCHED OVER THE INTERIOR AND ARCTIC REGIONS FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE. INCOMING SHORT WAVE WILL DEEPEN THE LONG WAVE TROUGH POSITION OVER THE ALASKA MAINLAND AND BRING A REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD AIR. IN THE VERY SHORT TERM...GOES IR IMAGING SHOWING HIGH CLOUDS NOW SPREADING WESTWARD INTO NORTHEAST ALASKA...THIS CLOUD COVER WILL SPREAD FARTHER WESTWARD INTO THE EASTERN INTERIOR AND BROOKS RANGE THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT RESULTING IN SOME MITIGATION OF THE TEMPERATURES OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ240-PKZ245. && RF DEC 10
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
- Winter Weather in Wisconsin, December 20 to 21, 2010
- Winter Weather in Indiana, December 20, 2010
- Winter Storm in Wyoming, December 20 to 23, 2010
- Heavy Snow in North Dakota, December 20 to 21, 2010
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Minnesota, December 20 to 21, 2010
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, December 20, 2010
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in South Dakota, December 20, 2010
- Winter Storm in Montana, December 20 to 21, 2010
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, December 20 to 21, 2010
- Winter Weather in Iowa, December 20 to 21, 2010
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Minnesota, December 20, 2010
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Iowa, December 20 to 21, 2010
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2010
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: 265474.