All of SE Alaska was in cold air with the arctic front offshore on 2/18. A moderate gale center moved into the western Gulf of Alaska, which was just enough to cause the front to move over the Panhandle for heavy snow on the night of the 18th into the afternoon of the 20th.
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.
All of SE Alaska was in cold air with the arctic front offshore on 2/18. A moderate gale center moved into the western Gulf of Alaska, which was just enough to cause the front to move over the Panhandle for heavy snow on the night of the 18th into the afternoon of the 20th.
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 Feb 18, 5:26 AM AKST, 9 hours 34 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
526 AM AKST FRI FEB 18 2011
.SHORT TERM...VERY TRICKY SHORT TERM FORECAST PERIOD AND IT ALL
CENTERS AROUND HOW MUCH LOW LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION WILL BE
ASSOCIATED WITH THE APPROACHING FRONT AND HOW FAR INLAND PAST THE
OUTER COAST IT WILL PENETRATE BEFORE THIS PRECIPITATION EVENT
ENDS. ADJUSTMENTS TO DAYTIME HIGHS AND OVERNIGHT LOWS ONLY A
DEGREE OR TWO WHERE HIGHEST PRECIP PROBABILITY WILL BE...BUT THAT
COULD MAKE A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN SNOW TOTALS OVERNIGHT
TONIGHT IN PLACES SUCH AS YAKUTAT...ELFIN COVE...SITKA...AND EVEN
AS FAR INLAND AS GUSTAVUS. MORE SUBSTANTIAL...GENERALLY
COLDER...CHANGES FARTHER SOUTH BUT LITTLE IMPACT ON THE FORECAST
SINCE FRONTAL PRECIP WILL NOT MAKE IT PAST FREDERICK SOUND AND
SOUTHERN CHATHAM STRAIT UNTIL SATURDAY MORNING.
OVERALL THEME IN THE SHORT TERM FORECAST PERIOD WAS TO DELAY THE
ARRIVAL OF THE PRECIP AND DECREASE OVERNIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.
BELIEVE THE MAJORITY OF THIS SNOW EVENT WILL OCCUR ON
SATURDAY...BEYOND THE SHORT TERM FORECAST PERIOD. MAJOR CONCERN
AND UNCERTAINTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE FORECAST FOR ZONE 17. LOW
LEVEL WARM ADVECTION WILL ARRIVE THERE FIRST AND WHEN WINDS SHIFT
FROM THE EAST TO THE SOUTH...BELIEVE SNOW WILL EITHER MIX WITH
RAIN OR CHANGE OVER TO STRAIGHT RAIN BY EARLY THIS EVENING. TEMPS
EXPECTED TO GET ABOVE FREEZING ALONG THE OUTER COAST VICINITY
SITKA AS WELL...SO ONSET OF PRECIP THERE MAY START OUT AS RAIN OR
A RAIN/SNOW MIX BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO SNOW...IF IT DOES. NOT A
LOT OF DIURNAL VARIATION IN THE TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR THE
OUTER COAST...AMONG OTHER PLACES...SO A FORECAST ERROR BY ONLY A
FEW DEGREES MAY MAKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A RAIN EVENT AND A
SIGNIFICANT SNOW EVENT AS FAR SOUTH AS PORT ALEXANDER. STAY TUNED
FOR FORECAST UPDATES.
USED A BLEND OF GFS AND NAM FOR THE POP...QPF AND TEMP FIELDS.
UPDATED WINDS WITH A BLEND OF 00Z AND 06Z NAM. FORECAST
CONFIDENCE IS ABOVE AVERAGE IN MOST REGARDS EXCEPT FOR PRECIP
TYPE AND ACCUMULATIONS OVERNIGHT ALONG THE OUTER COAST...WHERE
CONFIDENCE IS ONLY AVERAGE.
&&
.LONG TERM...MODELS BECAME MORE IN LINE THROUGH THE MID WEEK WITH
INTENSITY AND TIMING OF PROGRESSING RIDGES AND TROUGHS PASSING
ACROSS THE FORECAST DOMAIN. SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT OF MODEL
PERFORMANCE FROM THE PAST COUPLE OF RUNS. REFRESHED THE INHERITED
GRIDS WITH THE NAM/GFS BLEND THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK THEN
POPULATED NEW GRIDS WITH THE GFS/ECMWF THROUGH THE END OF THE LONG
TERM PERIOD.
THE DEVELOPING LOW IN THE FAR NORTHERN GULF WILL SLOWLY MOVE
EAST TO NEAR YAKUTAT BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON...PUSHING A WARM FRONT
EAST TO SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE PANHANDLE THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING.
WARM MOIST AIR ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL MOVE OVER THE
FROZEN INLAND AND SIGNIFICANT SNOW EVENT IS EXPECTED BEGINNING
OVER YAKUTAT AND ELFIN COVE ZONES TONIGHT...SPREADING SOUTHEAST TO
COVER NORTHERN TWO THIRD OF THE PANHANDLE...EXCEPT SKAGWAY
ZONE...THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. ISSUED WINTER STORM WARNINGS FOR
ZONES 17-19>26 WITH VARIOUS EFFECTIVE TIMES. THE STORM WILL
CONTINUE TO DRIFT SOUTHEAST AND SIGNIFICANT SNOW WILL CONTINUE
ACROSS ANGOON AND PETERSBURG ZONES THROUGH LATE SATURDAY NIGHT OR
EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. CONSIDERABLE SNOW IS ALSO EXPECTED OVER
SKAGWAY AREA AS WELL FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY
NIGHT. THE STORM WILL WEAKEN AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE SOUTHERN AREAS
AND PRODUCE SNOW AMOUNT LESS THAN ADVISORY LEVEL FOR HYDER
ZONE...AND THUS CANCELLED THE WINTER STORM WATCH. OFFSHORE FLOW
WILL RETURN ACROSS THE FORECAST DOMAIN MIDDAY SUNDAY FOR IMPROVING
WEATHER WITH GENERALLY DRY CONDITIONS.
&&
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 3 AM SATURDAY TO 3 AM AKST SUNDAY FOR
AKZ024-026.
WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 3 AM TO 3 PM AKST SATURDAY FOR
AKZ019>021-023-025.
WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 3 PM AKST
SATURDAY FOR AKZ017-022.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 9 AM TO 9 PM AKST SATURDAY FOR
AKZ018.
MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ021-022-031-034>036-051-052.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY DUE TO SEAS FOR PKZ041.
&&
FRITSCH/AHN11 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
The Yakutat NWS office measured 4.3 inches new snow just before midnight 2/18 and 4.4 more inches on the morning of 2/19. Precipitation changed to rain on the morning of 2/19. Minimum visibility during this event was 0.5 SM at the airport with a max gust of 22 KT.
Elfin Cove measured 10.5 inches of new snow for 24 hours ending at 1500 AKST on 2/19 and Pelican got 8.3 inches new. Most of this snow fell during the daytime on the 19th. Snow showers were heavy that afternoon with wind to 36 KT at Cape Spencer.
Haines Customs measured 6.5 inches of new snow at 0700 AKST 2/20 which occurred during the afternoon of 2/19. Downtown Haines measured 8.2 inches of new snow. Haines Airport measured visibility as low as 1/2 mile in snow with peak winds at 34 KT at the height of the storm.
A COOP observer affilated with the Gustavus Airport measured 6.5 inches new snow that fell overnight. Visibility had dropped to 1 SM at the airport with wind gusts to 19 KT.
Hoonah measured 4.9 inches of new snow on the morning of 2/19 and an additional 2.4 inches by 0900 on 2/20. Visibility at the Hoonah seaplane base was reduced to 0.75 SM in snow.
Sitka had wet snow that turned rapidly to rain on the morning of 2/19, but higher elevations had significant snowfall. Hidden Falls (24) on the back side of Baranof Island measured 4 inches new snow on the afternoon of 2/19.
Angoon had wet snow through the morning of 2/19, but higher elevations had significant snowfall. Hidden Falls on the back side of Baranof Island measured 4 inches new snow on the afternoon of 2/19 and another inch on 2/20. No other observations were available.
Various spotters and official observations had measurements from 4 to 7 inches of new snowfall during this short-lived event. Midnight to midnight snowfall at the airport was 10.5 inches and the peak wind was 29 KT during this event. Poor driving conditions occurred with the visibility down to 0.5 SM at times.
Wrangell had 0.25 SM visibility at times and gusts to 25 KT were common on 2/19 and 2/20. Petersburg had higher visibility and less wind. New snow amounts ranged from 6 to 8 inches.
The Skagway area received 8 to 9 inches of new snow on 2/19 into 2/20. Wind peaked over 40 MPH on the afternoon of 2/19 with visibility down to 0.75 SM in snow at times. Conditions on the Klondike Highway were probably worse.
Visibility was frequently reduced to 0.5 SM in heavy snow at Stewart B.C. on 2/20. Hyder measured a strom total of 12.7 inches of new snow with this storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 2011
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: 281395, 281405, 281398, 281400, 281402, 281408, 281581, 281584, 281585, 281586, 281587.