A major winter storm had explosive development well south of Kodiak on Halloween. The deepest that the storm got was 940 MB.
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.
The episode as NWS AJK wrote it up.
A major winter storm had explosive development well south of Kodiak on Halloween. The deepest that the storm got was 940 MB. On 11/1, a very strong front associated with this storm moved onto the coast of SE Alaska. Warm moist air moving over colder air in the northern Lynn Canal area caused heavy snow especially for higher elevations.
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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 31, 1:34 PM AKST, 5 hours 26 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
234 PM AKDT SUN OCT 31 2010
.SHORT TERM...THE EXPLOSIVE CYCLOGENESIS IS NOW BEING FOLLOWED A
MORE MATURE PHASE FOR THE ROUGHLY 945 MB THAT IS 600 NM S OF PAWD
AT THIS TIME. NOTE THE LENGTHY TABLE OF WATCHES, WARNINGS, AND
ADVISORIES GIVEN BELOW. THE MATURING SYSTEM IS ON A VAST SCALE SO
THE MODELS HAVE GOTTEN A CONSENSUS THAT RESULTS IN OVERALL GOOD
CONFIDENCE.
AGAIN THE OVERALL MODEL CONSENSUS IS GOOD. THE NAM, WRF ARE
USED AS PRIMARY GUIDANCE, ALTHOUGH A VARIETY OF OTHER MODELS ARE
BEING APPLIED, FOR EXAMPLE THE SREF IS BEING BLENDED IN TO THE
EXISTING POP FIELD AS IT IS A STATISTICAL MODEL.
&&
.LONG TERM...ACTIVE FALL WEATHER PATTERN CONTINUES THROUGH THE
LONG TERM FORECAST PERIOD. SUNDAYS STORM FORCE WIND WILL CONTINUE
TO TRACK NORTHWARD TOWARD PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND MON EVENING
WEAKENING TO AROUND 965 MB. STRONG WINDS WITH ADVY LEVEL GUSTS
FROM THE SECONDARY WRAP WILL DIMINISH THROUGH THE EVENING. PRECIP
WILL CONTINUE MON NIGHT INTO TUE REMAINS ALL LIQUID WITH WARM AIR
PUSHING UP FORM THE SOUTH. THE LOW WILL THEN MOVE INTO THE AK
INTERIOR AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE PANHANDLE.
AS NORTH SOUTH PRESSURE GRADIENT INCREASES SOUTHERLY WINDS OVER
THE NORTHERN ZONES WILL INCREASE TO ADVY LEVELS. THE UPPER LEVEL
TROUGH BECOMES NEGATIVELY TILTED WITH LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING
UP FROM THE PACIFIC MID WEEK. STILL FAIR AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTY
WITH THE RESOLUTION OF THIS SYSTEM. FOR TUE INTO WED SEEING LOWER
POPS AS MID LEVEL FLOW SHIFTS MORE TO THE SOUTHEAST BEFORE NEXT
FRONTAL BAND MOVES UP FORM THE SOUTH WITH LIKELY TO CATEGORICAL
POPS. SOUTHERN ORIENTED UPPER LEVEL JET WILL BRING LONG FETCH OF
MOISTURE WITH HEAVY RAIN. AS FIRST FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE MID
WEEK LOW MOVES UP A 60 TO 70 KT LLJ FORMS BRINGING INCREASED
WINDS OVER THE AK GULF WITH ADVY TO POSSIBLE WARING LVL GUSTS
ALONG THE COASTAL ZONES. HOWEVER AS OPERATIONAL MODEL RUNS HAVE
BEEN INCONSISTENT WITH THIS LOW SOME SHOWING TWO SEPARATE CENTERS
WHICH WILL BRING LIGHTER WINDS. AS THIS MID WEEK SYSTEM TRACKS
NORTH RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE PANHANDLE AS ANOTHER LOW TRACKS SOUTH
OF THE ALEUTIANS EASTWARD TOWARDS THE WESTERN AK GULF FOR THE
WEEKEND...HOWEVER STILL FAIR AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTY WITH THIS.
MODELS STARTED IN FAIR AGREEMENT AT THE START OF THE LONG TERM
UT THEN DIVERGE BY MID WEEK. STILL SOME MINOR DIFFERENCES IN
STRENGTH OF THE DISSIPATING LOW MON EVENING BUT AS NEW RUNS WERE
CLOSE TO OFFICIAL GRIDS ONLY MINOR CHANGES WERE MADE. GFS HAS
BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT RUN TO RUN. 00Z EC WAS SIGNIFICANTLY
DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS EC RUNS AND THE GFS WHILE THE NEW 12Z EC
WAS CLOSER TO PREVIOUS RUN AND THE GFS. FOR MID WEEK USED HPC
GUID WHICH USED A BLEND OF ENSEMBLE MEANS AS OPERATIONAL MODELS
DETAILS WERE STILL QUITE VARIABLE. FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS ABOUT
AVERAGE FOR THE START OF THE LONG TERM BUT QUICKLY DROPS MID
WEEK.
&&
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 1 AM AKDT MONDAY FOR AKZ026.
HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 10 PM AKDT THIS EVENING FOR AKZ027.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM AKDT THIS EVENING FOR AKZ021-024-025.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM AKDT MONDAY FOR AKZ022-023-028.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 1 AM AKDT MONDAY FOR AKZ029.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 AM AKDT
MONDAY FOR AKZ019.
WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 AM AKDT MONDAY
FOR AKZ018.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 7 AM TO 10 PM AKDT MONDAY FOR AKZ017.
MARINE...STORM WARNING FOR PKZ036-041>043-051-052.
GALE WARNING FOR PKZ011>013-021-022-031>035.
&&
JBT/PRB1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Skagway coop observed 0.86 inch of rainfall on 11/1. Frazier Camp on the Canadian side of the Klondike Highway was below freezing the entire time. White Pass has an elevation of 3116 FT. It appears upon analysis and given the elevation of White Pass, heavy snow fell there on 11/1, but the were no official reports from DOT.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, October 2010
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: 264947.