Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- January 22, 3:56 AM AKST to 5:48 PM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, January 22, 2010
A strong pressure gradient between a 975 mb low across the Kamchatka Peninsula and a 1030 mb high across northeast Alaska produced a period of blizzard conditions on Saint Lawrence Island from around 4 am AKST through 6 pm AKST on the 22nd. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile, and occasionally to near zero with white-out conditions.
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 strong pressure gradient between a 975 mb low across the Kamchatka Peninsula and a 1030 mb high across northeast Alaska produced a period of blizzard conditions on Saint Lawrence Island from around 4 am AKST through 6 pm AKST on the 22nd. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile, and occasionally to near zero with white-out conditions. A peak wind gust of 55kt/63 mph was observed at the Savoonga AWOS.
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 21, 1:17 PM AKST, 14 hours 39 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 1:17 PM AKST, 14 hours 39 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 117 PM AKST THU JAN 21 2010 DISCUSSION... MODELS GUIDANCE IN DECENT AGREEMENT. THERE IS SOME DIFFERENCE IN THE MID RANGE IN THE ULTIMATE EVOLUTION OF THE UPPER AIR BUT OVERALL GENERALLY DRY WITH NEAR OR SOMEWHAT ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS. ACTIVE WX PATTERN AROUND NORTHERN ALASKA BUT LARGELY ONLY BRUSHING THE AREA AS DEEP STORM MOVES FROM THE SEA OF OKHOTSK TODAY NORTHWARD INTO WESTERN CHUKOTKA. ASSOCIATED OCCLUSION MOVING RAPIDLY NWD BUT ONLY SLOWLY EASTWARD...AND PROBABLY NEVER QUITE MAKING IT EAST OF 180. MEANWHILE...RIDGE ALOFT BUILDING FROM THE NORTH PACIFIC PRESENTLY...TO BE A CUTOFF CENTER OVER THE NORTH SLOPE BY SUN MORNING. NORTH SLOPE...THE LAST BASTION OF COLD AIR IS LIKELY TO HOLD ON FOR ANOTHER DAY OR SO BEFORE AMS REALLY STARTS TO MODERATE...ESPECIALLY OVER WESTERN ZONES. OTHER THAN WIND ISSUES AT LISBURNE...THIS EVENT LOOKS UNLIKELY TO PRODUCE WINTER STORM LEVEL CONDITIONS. WEST COAST...NORTH WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH STILL BLOWING IN SOME AREAS COUPLED WITH REMAINING COLD AIR STILL PRODUCING WIND CHILL CRITERIA IN ZONE 207 AND 210...WIND CHILL ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN REISSUED FOR THESE AREAS. THIS WILL END LATE TONIGHT AS APPROACHING SYSTEM SWINGS WINDS FROM NORTH TO SOUTH BRINGING IN WARMER AIR. SNOW AND STRONG WIND EXPECTED ON FRIDAY FOR ZONE 213...WINTER STORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED. FARTHER EAST AND NORTH OF SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND, THERE WILL ALSO BE PLENTY OF WIND BUT AT THIS POINT SNOW LOOKS TO REMAIN WEST OF 167W. INTERIOR...STRATUS COVERAGE REMAINS OVER THE INTERIOR. THIS WILL OF COURSE DRAMATICALLY WEAKEN VALLEY BASED INVERSIONS. A MATURE STORM IN THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA IS QUITE DISORGANIZED AND IT DOES NOT LOOK TO SLING MUCH MOISTURE INTO THE SERN INTERIOR. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ207-AKZ210. WINTER STORM WATCH FOR AKZ213. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210 PKZ220 AND PKZ225. JK JAN 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
- Strong Wind in California, January 22, 2010
- Avalanche in Idaho, January 22, 2010
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Florida, January 22, 2010
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, January 22 to 25, 2010
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, January 22 to 23, 2010
- Winter Storm in North Dakota, January 22 to 23, 2010
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Montana, January 22 to 25, 2010
- Ice Storm and Winter Storm in Minnesota, January 22 to 25, 2010
- Winter Storm in Montana, January 22 to 25, 2010
- Heavy Snow in Arizona, January 22 to 23, 2010
- High Wind in New Mexico, January 22, 2010
- Wildfire and High Wind in Texas, January 22, 2010
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: 203640.