Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, February 12 to 15, 2011

Name: Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, February 12 to 15, 2011
Start: 2011-02-12T06:00
End: 2011-02-15T08:30
Location: Alaska

February 12 to 15, 2011 · NWS AFC · 7 events in 4 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 strong storm in the Gulf of Alaska produced strong northwest wind across the Alaska Peninsula along with snow showers. The combination of the strong northwest wind and snow resulted in localized blizzard conditions along the Alaska Peninsula and periods of High Winds. This same storm also produced high winds and snow with blowing snow in the northern and western portions of Prince William Sound as well as strong wind out of the Copper River Delta.

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 Feb 12, 5:00 AM AKST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 12, 5:00 AM AKST, 1 hour before

SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
500 AM AKST SAT FEB 12 2011

.MODEL DISCUSSION...OOZ MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH SHORT
TERM ON KEY FEATURES. MAINLY SURFACE LOW IN NRN GULF AK THAT WILL
REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH SUN NIGHT...BEING REINFORCED BY WEAK
TROUGHS ROTATING INTO IT FROM THE SW. AND ALSO WITH SURFACE HIGH
PRESSURE BUILDING N FROM N PACIFIC LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SUN NIGHT
OVER THE WRN AND CENTRAL BERING SEA. SO NAM WAS USED FOR IT'S BETTER
RESOLUTION THROUGH 60 HOURS.

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...LARGE 500 MB TROUGH WITH 499 DM CENTER
BETWEEN PAFA AND PFYU COVERS ALL MAINLAND AK THIS MORNING. NUMEROUS
SHORT-WAVES IN THE FLOW AROUND IT WILL BE MOVING THROUGH...HELPING
TO CARVE OUT A 505 DM CLOSED LOW OFFSHORE SE AK BY SUN NIGHT. UPPER
RIDGING WILL BEGIN TO BUILD N OVER WRN AND CENTRAL ALEUTIANS AND
BERING SEA TONIGHT...THEN SLOWLY SLIDE E OVER ERN ALEUTIANS AND AK
PEN. SUN NIGHT AND MON. IT WILL THEN PROGRESS OVER SW AK MON NIGHT
AND S-CENTRAL TUE. COLD AIRMASS OVER MAINLAND AK WITH UPPER TROUGH
COMBINED WITH 975-980 MB SURFACE LOW IN THE NRN GULF AK INTO SUN
NIGHT WILL MAINTAIN STRONG NRLY PRESSURE GRADIENT. STRONG NW TO NE
WINDS THROUGH GAPS AND PASSES FROM AK PEN. E THROUGH PADQ AND ALONG
GULF COAST WILL THEREFORE CONTINUE THROUGH MON...ALONG WITH WELL-BELOW
AVERAGE TEMPERATURES.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
ALEUTIANS/SW AK: MIXED PRECIP. SHOWERS IN POST-FRONTAL COLD AIR ERN
ALEUTIANS AND AK PEN. WILL BECOME ALL SNOW TODAY. THESE WILL DECREASE
TONIGHT AS SURFACE/UPPER RIDGING BUILDS IN FROM THE W. STORM FORCE
WINDS ACROSS AK PEN. SUN THROUGH MON AS STRONG NRLY FLOW ALOFT COMBINES
WITH VERY STRONG SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN CENTRAL ALEUTIAN HIGH
AND GULF AK LOW. RAIN AND GALES WRN ALEUTIANS SUN NIGHT AND MON WITH
FRONT MOVING AHEAD OF LOW OFF KAMCHATKA. INCREASING WINDS TONIGHT LOWER
KUSKOKWIM VALLEY...SO ISSUED WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR 155.

S-CENTRAL/COPPER R. BASIN: OVER-RUNNING SNOW COPPER RIVER BASIN WILL
END THIS MORNING. CLEARING SKIES THERE AND OVER REST OF S-CENTRAL
TONIGHT WILL BRING MUCH COLDER TEMPS. CLEAR SKIES WILL CONTINUE
THROUGH MON NIGHT...SO VERY COLD TEMPS. ALL AREAS...BUT FEBRUARY SUN
WILL AT LEAST BRING A LITTLE DIURNAL WARMING. NRLY SURFACE PRESSURE
GRADIENTS WILL BE STRONGEST SUN NIGHT AND MON FOR GAP OUTFLOW WINDS.
WILL CONTINUE WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR NRN SUSITNA VALLEY NEAR AK RANGE
AND ISSUE ONE FOR THOMPSON PASS BEGINNING TONIGHT.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...SHORT-WAVE TROUGH/WEAKENING FRONTAL SYSTEM
WILL SLIDE E OVER ERN ALEUTIANS AND AK PEN TUE AND SW AK TUE NIGHT
BRINGING GALES AND MIXED PRECIP. CHANGING TO SNOW S AND W OF PAPN.
ALL SNOW FOR SW AK ZONES. SYSTEM FORECAST BY ECMWF AND GFS TO SPLIT
AS IT ENTERS GULF AK WED...WITH MOST ENERGY DIVING SE. BUT PADQ SHOULD
PICK UP SIGNIFICANT PRECIP. AND S-CENTRAL AND COPPER BASIN MAY PICK
UP SOME -SN FROM IT. MODERATING TEMPS. FROM THE W. AS THE SYSTEM
MOVES THROUGH. GAP OUTFLOW WINDS S-CENTRAL WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH MON
NIGHT AND TUE AS SURFACE HIGH CENTER OVER INTERIOR SLIDES E INTO THE
YUKON.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...WIND CHILL ADVISORIES 141 145 155
MARINE...GALE: 121 127 128 129 132 138 155 160 165 170 171 172 175
               176 179 352 411 413 414
        STORM: 130 150
HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY: 120 121 125 129 13O 132 138 140 141 126 127 128
                      150 155 160 165 179 185 412 414

MAR FEB 11

Event by event

4 high wind, 3 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Nern P.W. Snd

When: February 12, 6:00 AM AKST to February 13, 6:15 AM AKST
Where: Nern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When: February 13, 8:45 AM AKST to 12:15 PM AKST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 68 kt (78 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns

When: February 13, 9:00 AM AKST to 2:00 PM AKST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, Alaska Peninsula

When: February 13, 3:57 PM AKST to 7:30 PM AKST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

High Wind, Alaska Peninsula

When: February 13, 8:10 PM AKST to 11:57 PM AKST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Measured: 69 kt (79 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS

High Wind, Sern P.W. Snd

When: February 14, 2:00 AM AKST to 11:00 PM AKST
Where: Sern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: NWS Employee

Wind speed is estimated based upon surrounding observations and the synoptic pattern and pressure gradient.

High Wind, Nern P.W. Snd

When: February 14, 7:00 AM AKST to February 15, 8:30 AM AKST
Where: Nern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Measured: 103 kt (119 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Department of Highways

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.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 2011

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: 273704, 273688, 273702, 273689, 273700, 273707, 273706.