Alaska, 2010

Blizzard in Alaska, January 1 to 2, 2010

January 1 to 2, 2010 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A 996 mb low near Banks Island combined with a 1037 mb high across the southern Chukchi Sea to produce a period of blizzard conditions along the Beaufort Sea Coast. Severe blizzard conditions were observed along the eastern Beaufort Sea Coast.

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.

A 996 mb low near Banks Island combined with a 1037 mb high across the southern Chukchi Sea to produce a period of blizzard conditions along the Beaufort Sea Coast. Severe blizzard conditions were observed along the eastern Beaufort Sea Coast. At Barter Island, the wind gusted to at least 63kt/72 mph and then power was lost at the AWSS. According to reports from the public in the area, the power went out for about 4 hours on the morning of the 2nd, and the visibility was reduced to zero at times for about 1 1/2 days. Once the storm ended there were snowdrifts that were estimated between 10 and 12 feet high.

Along the Central Beaufort Sea coast, conditions were not as severe, but blizzard conditions were observed from the early morning hours on the 1st through the mid-morning hours on the 2nd. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. The wind gusted as high as 42kt/48 mph at the Deadhorse ASOS.

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 31, 3:59 PM AKST, 12 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 3:59 PM AKST, 12 hours 12 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
359 PM AKST THU DEC 31 2009

.DISCUSSION...
A COOLING TREND OVER MOST OF NORTHERN AK IS UNDERWAY. THE
COOLING OF THE AIRMASS AS A WHOLE WILL BE MOST PRONOUNCED OVER
THE NORTHEAST INTERIOR...BUT THIS IS THE AREA WHERE IT WILL ALSO
BE MITIGATED AT TIMES BY SHOTS OF CLOUD COVER. COOLING WILL
BE MODEST OVER THE WEST COAST ZONES...BUT WITHOUT MUCH WIND
OR CLOUD COVER...SURFACE TEMPERATURES THERE WILL ALSO GET PRETTY
CRISP IN SPOTS.

THE FIRST SHORT WAVE TO MOVE IN FROM THE NORTH IS PRESENTLY
BECOMING DIFFUSE ALONG ABOUT 65N FROM TANANA EAST. A MUCH STRONGER
ONE IS MAKING RAPID PROGRESS SOUTHWARD OVER THE BEAUFORT SEA
AND WILL REACH THE EASTERN ARCTIC COAST FRIDAY NIGHT. EXPECT
WINDS TO INCREASE SHARPLY FROM BARROW EAST AS THIS THING
APPROACHES. THERE IS ALSO A CHANCE OF SNOW...AND WE WILL NEED
HAVE CONSIDERED ISSUING AN ADVISORY OR WARNING FOR BLIZZARD
TYPE CONDITIONS IN ZONE 204 FRI AND FRI NIGHT IF NOT IN ZONE
203 AS WELL...BUT THE MODELS ARE GIVING RATHER LOW POPS IN
STILL...SO WE HAVE CONTENTED OURSELVES WITH SOME HARSH LANGUAGE.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GALE WARNING FOR PKZ245.

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

DJH DEC 09

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When
January 1, 4:11 AM AKST to January 2, 8:29 AM AKST
Where
Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS

Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast

When
January 1, 7:00 AM AKST to January 2, 3:00 PM AKST
Where
Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by
Public

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 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 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: 200869, 200870.