Name: Blizzard in Alaska, February 2 to 3, 2010
Start: 2010-02-02T05:43
End: 2010-02-03T05:01
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

An area of low pressure dropped out of the high Arctic and deepened to 998 mb just off the coast of Banks Island. The low combined with a strong ridge of high pressure that extended from northern Russia and into the Brooks Range to produce a very strong pressure gradient along the Beaufort Sea Coast. High winds combined with falling snow to produce significant blowing and drifting snow and blizzard conditions.

Zone 203: Blizzard conditions were observed at Deadhorse from approximately 8 am on the morning of the 2nd through 2 am on the morning of the 3rd. A peak wind gust of 56 mph/49 kt was observed at the Deadhorse ASOS.

Zone 204: Blizzard conditions were observed at Barter Island from approximately 5 am on the morning of the 2nd through 5 am on the morning of the 3rd. The blizzard was more severe at Barter Island than it was further to the west along the central Beaufort Sea Coast. A peak wind gust of 71 mph/62kt was observed at the Barter Island AWSS. According to public accounts, there were minor power outages during the storm and the school was closed for two days. The drifting snow was likely significant as the school remained closed the day after the blizzard ended.

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 Feb 1, 3:42 PM AKST, 14 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 1, 3:42 PM AKST, 14 hours 1 minute before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
342 PM AKST MON FEB 1 2010

.DISCUSSION...
COLD LOW ALOFT NEAR 77N/139W WILL BE CENTERED JUST WEST OF
NORTHERN BANKS ISLAND BY WED MORNING. THIS WILL RESULT IN A COLDER
AMS ACROSS THE CWA BY MID WEEK. SITUATION ON THE NORTH SLOPE IS
COMPLICATED BY WARM AIR COMING ACROSS THE POLE AND SWD TOWARD
ALASKA/CHUKOTKA. THIS IS EVIDENTLY NOT ATLANTIC AIR...IT APPEARS
TO BE A SLUG OF WARMER AIR THAT WAS OVER CENTRAL ASIA A COUPLE
DAYS AGO.

AT THE SURFACE...LOW NORTH OF BANKS OF ISLAND ROTATING
CYCLONICALLY...BUT TROF OR NEW LOW ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE PARENT
LOW WILL TIGHTEN UP THE GRAD OVER THE EASTERN ARCTIC COAST. RIDGE
FROM 1050 HIGH OVER NORTH CENTRAL SIBERIA EXTENDS EWD INTO
NORTHWEST ALASKA.

NORTH SLOPE...WEST WINDS SHOULD PICK UP AGAIN EARLY TUESDAY AS
SURFACE LOW OVER THE WESTERN CANADIAN ARCTIC ROTATES CYCLONICALLY
SWWD. WE HAVE ISSUED A BLIZ WATCH FOR THIS...WITH THE WORST
WEATHER EXPECTED TO BE ZONE 204.

WEST WINDS...CONTINUED WIND CHILL ADVISORIES IN NORTHERN ZONES.
GENERAL INCREASE IN WINDS ACROSS THE REGION.

INTERIOR...GRADIENT INCREASE SOME NEXT 24 HOURS BUT EXCEPT THRU
BROOKS RANGE PASSES PROBABLY ONLY ENOUGH TO BREAK UP THE PATCHY
BUT WIDESPREAD STRATUS. AMS COOLING SMARTLY BUT NOTHING TOO EXTREME
FOR EARLY FEBRUARY.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
BLIZZARD WATCH FOR AKZ203-AKZ204.

WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ207-AKZ208-AKZ213-AKZ217.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ206-AKZ218.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ245.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ240-PKZ245.
&&

RT FEB 10

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast

When: February 2, 5:43 AM AKST to February 3, 5:01 AM AKST
Where: Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWSS

Blizzard, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: February 2, 7:49 AM AKST to February 3, 1:53 AM AKST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 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: 204644, 204643.