Extreme Cold in Alaska, February 3 to 4, 2010

Name: Extreme Cold in Alaska, February 3 to 4, 2010
Start: 2010-02-03T21:00
End: 2010-02-04T04:00
Location: Alaska

February 3 to 4, 2010 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Temperatures of 28 to 33 below zero (F) combined with a northeast wind of 20 to 30 mph to produce wind chills as low as 69 below at Atigun Pass during the early morning hours of the 4th.

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.

Temperatures of 28 to 33 below zero (F) combined with a northeast wind of 20 to 30 mph to produce wind chills as low as 69 below at Atigun Pass during the early morning hours of the 4th.

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 3, 2:49 PM AKST, 6 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 3, 2:49 PM AKST, 6 hours 11 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
249 PM AKST WED FEB 3 2010

.DISCUSSION...
THE LOW ALOFT CENTERED NORTH OF THE MACKENZIE DELTA AT THIS TIME
WILL WEAKEN QUITE GRADUALLY AS IT MOVES CYCLONICALLY EAST AND
NORTHEAST TONIGHT BEFORE BEGINNING TO DRIFT NORTHWEST ON THURSDAY.
WEAK SHORT WAVES MOVING SOUTH OVER THE CHUKCHI SEA WILL IMPACT THE
WEATHER OVER OUR ARCTIC AND WEST COAST ZONES THROUGH FRIDAY AT
LEAST...THOUGH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION WILL BE CONFINED TO THE
ARCTIC ZONES...AND EVEN THERE FLURRIES ARE MORE LIKELY THAN
ANYTHING MEASURABLE FROM THURSDAY ON.

THE 1000 MB SURFACE LOW NEAR BANKS ISLAND WILL REMAIN ROUGHLY
UNDER THE LOW ALOFT BUT WILL WEAKEN MORE RAPIDLY...WITH A 1015 MB
BLOB AT THE SURFACE OVER MUCH OF THE CHUKCHI AND BEAUFORT SEAS ON
FRIDAY. WINDS IN THE ARCTIC ZONES WILL WEAKEN SUBSTANTIALLY
OVERNIGHT IN MOST AREAS...BUT STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST
IN THE BROOKS RANGE FROM ATIGUN PASS EAST UNTIL THURSDAY.

A COLDER AIRMASS AT LOW LEVELS WILL CONTINUE SPREADING NORTH OVER
MOST OF NORTHERN AK TONIGHT AND THURSDAY...THOUGH IT HAS NEARLY
MAXED OUT NOW OVER ZONES 201...202...AND MOST OF 205. SOME MODEST
COOLING WILL CONTINUE OVER OUR WESTERN ZONES ON THURSDAY NIGHT...
BUT IT WILL OVER (OR NEARLY SO) IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR
THEN. A WARMER AIRMASS WILL BEGIN TO MOVE OVER THE INTERIOR FRIDAY
MORNING AS WINDS ALOFT TURN TO THE SOUTH.

EXPECT STRONGER WINDS ALOFT AT ELEVATION OVER THE CENTRAL INTERIOR
AS EARLY AS THURSDAY NIGHT AS THE WARMER AIR ALOFT BEGINS TO SPREAD
IN...BUT ADVISORY LEVEL CONDITIONS APPEAR UNLIKELY AT THIS TIME.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ206.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ245.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ230-PKZ235-PKZ240-
PKZ245.
&&

DJH FEB 10

Event by event

1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R

When: February 3, 9:00 PM AKST to February 4, 4:00 AM AKST
Where: N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

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: 205973.