Blizzard in Alaska, March 11 to 12, 2010

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, March 11 to 12, 2010
Start: 2010-03-11T15:56
End: 2010-03-12T05:16
Location: Alaska

March 11 to 12, 2010 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

An intense storm moved into the central Aleutians on March 11th producing blizzard conditions over the western and central Aleutians.

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.

An intense storm moved into the central Aleutians on March 11th producing blizzard conditions over the western and central Aleutians.

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 11, 12:52 PM AKST, 3 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 11, 12:52 PM AKST, 3 hours 4 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA
1252 PM AKST THU MAR 11 2010

.MODEL DISCUSSION...GFS NAM AND ECMWF IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT ON
MAIN SYNOPTIC FEATURES. LOW NEAR PANHANDLE THIS AFTERNOON MOVES
ONSHORE THIS EVENING WITH RESIDUAL LOW OVER PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND. BIG
STORM IN THE ALEUTIANS IS PROGED 5 TO 8 MB DEEPER BY GFS OVER NAM
WITH OLD ECMWF CLOSE TO GFS.

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...CONTINUED INSTABILITY OVER SOUTHCENTRAL
THROUGH FRI MORNING ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER TROP TROUGH. MAIN ENERGY IN
JET SOUTH OF ALEUTIANS WITH DEVELOPING STORM.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
ALEUTIANS...STORM APPEARS TO BE ON TARGET WITH PREVIOUS MODEL RUNS.
SURFACE LOW TO REACH ABOUT 100 NM SOUTH OF ATKA TONIGHT. EXPECT STORM
FORCE WINDS IN MARINE ZONES AND 40 TO 50 MPH OVER LAND WITH GUSTS IN
THE 70 TO 80 MPH RANGE. GOING WITH BLIZZARDS ACROSS REGION AS INITIAL
BLAST SHOULD BE IN THE FORM OF SNOW FOLLOWED BY A WARMING AND WET
SNOW OR RAIN FOLLOWED ON THE BACKSIDE WITH MORE SNOW AS TEMPERATURES
DECREASE. WILL ISSUE BLIZZARDS FOR LONG PERIODS INSTEAD OF ATTEMPTING
TO PIN POINT EXACT PERIODS.

SOUTHWEST...VARIABLE CLOUDS REMAINING COLD WITH BRISTOL BAY WARMING
SAT AFTERNOON AND KUSKO BASIN ON SUN.

SOUTHCENTRAL...CLOUDY WITH PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW THROUGH FRI MORNING.
PARTLY CLOUDY FRI PM AND SAT AM WITH FRONT MOVING ON SHORE SAT
AFTERNOON. KODIAK CAN EXPECT STRONG WINDS AND POSSIBLE BLIZZARD SAT
MORNING THROUGH AFTERNOON.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...BY SUN RESIDUAL LOW SPINS IN SOUTHERN GULF
WHICH WILL IMPACT COASTAL AREAS WITH CLOUDS AND LIGHT PRECIP BUT
OTHERWISE BENIGN OVER SOUTHWEST AND SOUTHCENTRAL.  TEMPERATURES OVER
MAINLAND SEASONABLE.  A WEATHER FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE WESTERN
BERING ON SUN PM WITH A HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN BERING.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNINGS: 191 187
MARINE...GALES: 150 155 165 170 172 175 176 130 132 140
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

JMP MAR 10

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Central Aleutians

When: March 11, 3:56 PM AKST to 9:00 PM AKST
Where: Central Aleutians forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Western Aleutians

When: March 11, 4:16 PM AKST to March 12, 5:16 AM AKST
Where: Western Aleutians forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

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

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: 212315, 212316.