Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, March 10, 2010

Name: Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, March 10, 2010
Start: 2010-03-10T04:00
End: 2010-03-10T14:06
Location: Alaska

March 10, 2010 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A potent low pressure system moved into the north central Gulf of Alaska on the 10th resulting in blizzard conditions on the Alaska Peninsula and heavy snow on the southern Kenai Peninsula.

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 AFC wrote it up.

A potent low pressure system moved into the north central Gulf of Alaska on the 10th resulting in blizzard conditions on the Alaska Peninsula and heavy snow on the southern Kenai Peninsula.

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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 9, 1:00 PM AKST, 15 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 9, 1:00 PM AKST, 15 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
100 PM AKST TUE MAR 9 2010

.MODEL DISCUSSION...NAM AND GFS IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT ON RESIDUAL
LOW OVER SOUTHCENTRAL...GFS MOVES IT TO THE NORTHEAST FASTER THAN
NAM.  FORECAST FOR TONIGHT WILL REFLECT MORE OF NAM SOLUTION. IN THE
ALEUTIANS THE LOW CURRENTLY NORTH OF ATKA IS PROGED WELL BY BOTH GFS
AND NAM.  THERE IS LARGE DISCREPANCY REGARDING A NORTH PACIFIC LOW
THAT MOVES INTO THE SOUTHEASTERN GULF ON THU.  CURRENT TRACKS TAKE
INTO THE PANHANDLE SO MINOR IMPACTS ON ANC MARINE ZONES.  THE WESTERN
ALEUTIANS SYSTEM ON THU IS HANDLED FAIRLY WELL WITH GFS SLIGHTLY
DEEPER AND EASTWARD.

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS
SOUTHCENTRAL THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM RESIDUAL SOUTHCENTRAL
LOW.  STRONG WEST WINDS FROM COOK INLET TO KODIAK AND AK PEN
CONTINUING TO DIMINISH THIS EVENING. EASTERN ALEUTIAN LOW CROSSES
CHAIN NEAR DUTCH HARBOR THIS EVENING.
IN UPPER TROPOSPHERE ZONAL JET FORMS DEEP TROUGH OVER EASTERN PACIFIC
BY WED NIGHT AND SUPPORTS DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW THAT MOVES INTO
EASTERN GULF ON THU.  MOST OF JET ENERGY PROGED TO REMAIN BETWEEN 40N
AND 50N FOR REMAINDER OF THE WEEK.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...RESIDUAL SNOW SHOWERS THROUGH TONIGHT FOR MUCH
OF SOUTHCENTRAL.  MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH FLURRIES OR LIGHT SNOW IN
SOUTHWEST ZONES FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS IN
ALEUTIANS WITH FRONT MOVING OVER WESTERN AL THU MORNING. TO REMAIN
COLD OVER SOUTHWEST ZONES AND EASTERN BERING REGION.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...MAIN SYSTEM IS LOW TRACKING WEST TO EAST ACROSS
50N...SHOULD GENERATE SOME STRONG EAST WINDS OVER MOST OF ALEUTIANS
THU AFTERNOON THROUGH FRI NIGHT WITH POSSIBLE BLIZZARDS IN SOME
LOCALES.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD 121 PROBABLY CANCELLED THIS AFTERNOON
MARINE...GALES: 172 170 155 141 140 138 132 130
FIRE WEATHER...NADA

JMP MAR 10

Event by event

1 heavy snow, 1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Kenai Peninsula

When: March 10, 4:00 AM AKST to 1:10 PM AKST
Where: Kenai Peninsula forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Spotters reported nearly 2 feet of snow in the Homer area from this storm.

Blizzard, Alaska Peninsula

When: March 10, 6:23 AM AKST to 2:06 PM AKST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
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

Every storm in Alaska in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, March 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: 212314, 212313.