Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Central Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- January 14, 3:50 AM AKST to January 15, 7:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
Extreme Cold in Alaska, January 14 to 15, 2010
A 999 mb low several hundred miles north of Demarcation Point at 9 am AKST on the 14th gradually deepened to 985 mb by 9 am AKST on the 15th as the low very slowly lifted to the north. At the same time a weak ridge of high pressure built into the Brooks Range.
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 999 mb low several hundred miles north of Demarcation Point at 9 am AKST on the 14th gradually deepened to 985 mb by 9 am AKST on the 15th as the low very slowly lifted to the north. At the same time a weak ridge of high pressure built into the Brooks Range. The pressure gradient between the high and low produced southwest winds of 15 to 25 mph. The wind combined with temperatures of 30 to 35 below zero to produce wind chills as low as 68 below at Deadhorse. Here are the lowest wind chills that were observed during this event:
Deadhorse ASOS: 68 below|Deadhorse Alpine Airport SAWRS: 68 below|Nuiqsut ASOS: 66 below|Kuparuk SAWRS: 66 below.
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 Jan 13, 2:12 PM AKST, 13 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 13, 2:12 PM AKST, 13 hours 38 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 212 PM AKST WED JAN 13 2010 .DISCUSSION... UPPER AIR: A 484 DM LOW 275 NM NORTH OF BARROW MOVE RAPIDLY NORTHEAST. AN ASSOCIATED TROUGH EXTENDING SOUTHWEST FROM THE LOW OVER THE WESTERN ARCTIC COAST TO THE EASTERN CHUKOTSK PENINSULA WILL MOVE SLOWLY EAST. AT 3 PM AKST SAT...THE LOW WILL BE 461 DM 1000 NM NORTHEAST OF BARROW AND THE ASSOCIATED TROUGH WILL EXTEND FROM THE LOW SOUTH TO MACKENZIE BAY AND TO SOUTHWEST MAINLAND ALASKA. A 488 DM LOW SOUTHWEST OF THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE EAST AND CONTINUE SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS. BY 3 PM AKST SAT...MODELS DISAGREE IN FEATURES OVER SOUTHWEST MAINLAND ALASKA. THE 12Z GFS HAS A 491 DM CENTER OVER BETHEL...WHILE THE NAM12 AND ECMWF 12Z MODELS KEEP AN OPEN TROUGH OVER THAT AREA. SURFACE: A 1004 MB LOW 300 NM NORTH OF BARROW WILL LIFT NORTHEAST. AT 3 PM AKST FRI...THE LOW WILL BE 986 MB 775 NM NORTHEAST OF BARROW. AN ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL MOVE EAST OF PRUDHOE BAY WED NIGHT THEN EAST OF MACKENZIE BAY THU AFTERNOON. BY THU AFTERNOON A RIDGE WILL EXTEND FROM SIBERIA EAST OVER THE BROOKS RANGE. A 950 MB LOW SOUTH OF THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS WILL TRACK SLOWLY EAST. AT 3 PM AKST FRI...THE LOW WILL BE 958 MB 200 NM SOUTHWEST OF ADAK. A 963 MB LOW WILL DEVELOP 260 NM SOUTH OF COLD BAY BY 3 AM AKST FRI. THE LOW WILL BE 960 MB 200 NM SOUTHEAST OF COLD BAY AT 3 AM AKST SAT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL PERSIST OVER SIBERIA. NORTH SLOPE: A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE EAST OF PRUDHOE BAY BY MIDNIGHT THEN EAST OF MACKENZIE BAY BY THU AFTERNOON. ONLY FLURRIES WILL ACCOMPANY THE FRONT. WEST WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH WILL COMBINE WITH LOW TEMPERATURES AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE TO PRODUCE WIND CHILLS TO 55 BELOW. A RIDGE BUILDING IN TONIGHT THROUGH THU WILL DECREASE CLOUDS AND END ANY FLURRIES. WEST COAST: COLD AIR WORKING SOUTH OVER THE WEST COAST WILL COMBINE WITH NORTH WINDS TO PRODUCE LOW WIND CHILLS...WITH THE LOWEST WIND CHILLS OVER ZONES 207...210... AND 213. A TIGHTENING PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE NORTHEAST WINDS THROUGH SUN. INTERIOR: OVERRUNNING WITH CLOUDS AND FLURRIES OR LIGHT SNOW WITH ACCUMULATION LESS THAN 1 INCH WILL PERSIST FOR THE SOUTHEAST INTERIOR THROUGH SAT. SNOW IS NOT EXPECTED TO MAKE IT ANY FURTHER WEST THAN THE MIDDLE TANANA VALLEY OR MUCH FURTHER NORTH THAN THE FORTY MILE COUNTRY. THE REST OF THE INTERIOR WILL CONTINUE WITH STRONG INVERSIONS THROUGH AT LEAST SAT. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ203-AKZ204-AKZ207-AKZ210-AKZ213. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ220. && DA JAN 10
Event by event
1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
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
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 203646.