Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- February 9, 11:36 PM AKST to February 10, 6:00 PM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, February 9 to 10, 2010
A 964 mb low across the eastern Aleutians combined with a moderate ridge of high pressure across the Arctic Ocean and Siberia to produce blizzard conditions at Gambell on Saint Lawrence Island from the evening of the 9th through the early evening of the 10th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less, with white-out conditions observed 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 964 mb low across the eastern Aleutians combined with a moderate ridge of high pressure across the Arctic Ocean and Siberia to produce blizzard conditions at Gambell on Saint Lawrence Island from the evening of the 9th through the early evening of the 10th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less, with white-out conditions observed at times. A northeast wind of 30 to 40 mph was observed during the event, with a peak wind gust at the Gambell AWOS of 41kt/47 mph. The anemometer was only functional intermittently during the evening of the 9th into the early morning of the 10th, and it is possible that the peak wind gusts may have been a little stronger.
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 9, 3:13 PM AKST, 8 hours 23 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 9, 3:13 PM AKST, 8 hours 23 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 313 PM AKST TUE FEB 9 2010 .DISCUSSION... A 960 MB LOW SOUTH OF COLD BAY WILL MOVE NORTH THEN NORTHWEST TO BE 974 MB NEAR SAINT PAUL ISLAND AT 3AM THURSDAY. THE WEATHER FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LOW WILL MOVE NORTHWEST OVER NORTON SOUND TUE NIGHT AND OVER SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE FRONT WILL BE DIFFUSE NORTH OF THE BERING STRAIT. THIS STORM HAS BEEN SOMETHING OF A DISAPPOINTMENT AS A SNOW MAKER... THOUGH THE MODELS CONTINUE TO MAKE SNOW AS VARIOUS FRONTAL WAVES MOVE THROUGH. THE APPEARANCE OF THE THING ON SATELLITE PICS DOES NOT INSPIRE MUCH ENTHUSIASM...BUT THE NAM AT LEAST IS STILL MAKING CONSIDERABLE QPF OVER ZONE 214 AND SOUTHWESTERN PORTIONS OF ZONE 215 TONIGHT. ITS CERTAINLY GIVEN US PLENTY OF WIND IN THE WEST COAST ZONES...AND WILL BECOME A BIT OF A PROBLEM FOR THE ARCTIC COAST AS WELL. ON THE OTHER HAND... IT HAS NOT BEEN AND IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE A TERRIFIC CHINOOK EVENT FOR THE SOUTHEAST INTERIOR. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ201-AKZ207-AKZ213. BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ213. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ214-AKZ215. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230- PKZ240-PKZ245. && DJH FEB 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
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Delaware, February 9 to 11, 2010
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, February 9 to 11, 2010
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in New Jersey, February 9 to 11, 2010
- Winter Storm in Wisconsin, February 9 to 10, 2010
- Winter Storm in Ohio, February 9 to 10, 2010
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Maryland, February 9 to 10, 2010
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, February 9 to 10, 2010
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Virginia, February 9 to 11, 2010
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in North Carolina, February 9 to 11, 2010
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Kentucky, February 9 to 10, 2010
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Virginia, February 9 to 11, 2010
- Winter Weather in Virginia, February 9 to 10, 2010
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 205972.