Alaska, 2010

Ice Storm in Alaska, November 21 to 22, 2010

November 21 to 22, 2010 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

An unusually warm and most air mass around a large ridge of high pressure in the north Pacific produced a period of freezing rain along parts of the western Arctic Coast as well as the Northwest Brooks Range on the evening of the 21st into the early morning hours on the 22nd. Zone 201: Freezing rain was observed at the Wainwright ASOS from 143AKST through 0413AKST with a total of 15 hundredths…

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.

An unusually warm and most air mass around a large ridge of high pressure in the north Pacific produced a period of freezing rain along parts of the western Arctic Coast as well as the Northwest Brooks Range on the evening of the 21st into the early morning hours on the 22nd.

Zone 201: Freezing rain was observed at the Wainwright ASOS from 143AKST through 0413AKST with a total of 15 hundredths of an inch. Freezing rain or a mix of freezing rain and snow was observed at the Point Lay AWOS from 1856AKST on the 21st through 0532AKST on the 22nd. A total of 43 hundredths of an inch of liquid precipitation was observed.

Zone 205: A total of 47 hundredths of an inch of precipitation was observed at the Umiat RAWS from 0353AKST through 1523AKST on the 22nd. Temperatures were above freezing during much of the event and it is likely that most of the precipitation fell in the form of rain which would have frozen on colder surfaces.

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 Nov 21, 5:02 AM AKST, 13 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 21, 5:02 AM AKST, 13 hours 54 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
502 AM AKST SUN NOV 21 2010

.DISCUSSION...
BIG NORTH PACIFIC HIGH ALOFT AND FAIRLY SHARP RIDGE EXTENDING NWD
ACROSS ALASKA AND THE BEAUFORT SEA WILL REMAIN THE DOMINANT
WEATHER FEATURE FOR A FEW MORE DAYS...BUT BIG CHANGES IN THE
WORKS. BEFORE THAT THOUGH...EXTENDED PERIOD OF RAIN OVER MUCH OF
THE CENTRAL AND SRN INTERIOR IS IN STORE.

ALTHOUGH MODELS IN BASIC AGREEMENT IN THE SHORT TERM ON LARGE
SCALE FEATURES...THERE ARE SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE
NAM AND GFS/ECMWF WITH TEMPS OVER THE INTERIOR...WITH NAM BEING
MUCH COOLER. IN THE INTERIOR...MODELS AND MOS APPEAR TO HAVE
SFC/BOUNDARY LAYER MUCH TOO COLD...AND THIS IS HAVING AN IMPACT ON
PCPN TYPE FORECAST. IN ANY CASE...MOS IS HAVING REAL PROBLEMS.

STARTING WED THE PATTERN BECOMES MORE PROGRESSIVE WITH THE RIDGE
BEING PUSHED AND HEIGHTS CRASH ACROSS MAINLAND ALASKA AND THE GULF
OF ALASKA. THIS WILL BRING A RAPID RETURN TO MORE SEASONABLE TEMPS BY
THE WEEKEND.

NORTH SLOPE...FOR TODAY...BRISK EAST WIND ALONG THE FAR EAST COAST
AS COLD HIGH HANGS ON NEAR BANKS ISLAND. WINDS SHOULD DIMINISH A
BIT TONIGHT. OTHER AREAS RECORD OR NEAR RECORD WARMTH. COOLER
AIRMASS WILL BEGIN TO MOVE ACROSS THE SLOPE FROM WEST TO EAST
STARTING MONDAY.

WEST COAST...INCOMING SLUG OF PRECIP SHOULD BE PRETTY MUCH ALL
RAIN EXCEPT ALONG THE SOUTH SLOPES OF THE BROOKS RANGE...AND EVEN
THERE SOME RAIN POSSIBLE. CHUKOTKA LOW WILL MUCH COOLER AIR INTO
WESTERN ZONES TONIGHT BUT EASTWARD ADVANCE WILL BE STALLED BY
NEXT NWD MOVING N PACIFIC LOW.

INTERIOR...PROLONGED RAIN EVENT LOOKS TO BE IN THE WORKS FROM SW
ZONES AROUND THE ALASKA RANGE AND INTO THE CENTRAL INTERIOR. THE
PRIMARY QUESTIONS ARE HOW FAR NORTH AND EAST THE RAIN REGIME GETS.
AT THIS TIME THE MODELS ALL SEEM TO SUGGEST THAT NORTH OF 66N
PRECIP SHOULD REMAIN LARGELY SNOW. SOUTH OF THERE PRECIP SHOULD BE
ALL RAIN AT LEAST THRU TUE.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER STORM WATCH FOR AKZ216-AKZ219-AKZ220-AKZ221-AKZ222-AKZ223-
AKZ225-AKZ227.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ200.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ245.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ215-PKZ230-PKZ235-PKZ240.
&&

RT NOV 10

Event by event

2 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Western Arctic Coast

When
November 21, 6:56 PM AKST to November 22, 5:32 AM AKST
Where
Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS

Ice Storm, N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W

When
November 22, 3:53 AM AKST to 3:23 PM AKST
Where
N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W forecast zone
Reported by
RAWS

What these are

Ice Storm
Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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, November 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: 265279, 265282.