Blizzard and Winter Storm in Alaska, February 7 to 10, 2011

Name: Blizzard and Winter Storm in Alaska, February 7 to 10, 2011
Start: 2011-02-07T16:30
End: 2011-02-10T17:16
Location: Alaska

February 7 to 10, 2011 · NWS AFG · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

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.

A 988 mb low near the Alaska Peninsula at 1200AKST on the 8th moved north to near Unalakleet and weakened to 1001 mb by 0300AKST on the 9th. The low continued to weaken to 1004 mb and moved into northeast Alaska by 1500AKST on the 9th. The low produced heavy snow across parts of western Alaska and blizzard conditions along parts of the Seward Peninsula and Chukchi Sea Coast.

Zone 205: Based on the report of 14 inches of snow at Ambler, it is likely that upslope areas along the south slopes of the Brooks Range received in excess of 1 foot of snow. There are no observation sites in this area.

Zone 207: Blizzard conditions were observed at Kivalina from 0553AKST through 2200AKST on the 9th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust of 47 kt (54 mph) at the Kivalina ASOS.

Zone 208: A storm total of 6 inches of snow was observed at Kiana. The snow began during the afternoon hours on the 8th and ended during the late afternoon hours on the 9th. There were reports of 5 to 6 foot snow drifts at Noatak.

Zone 209: Blizzard conditions were observed at Selawik from approximately 1200AKST through 1700AKST on the 9th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust of 35 kt (40 mph) at the Selawik AWOS.

Zone 210: Blizzard conditions were observed at Deering from 0453AKST on the 9th through 1753AKST on the 10th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. A peak wind gust of 43 Kt (49 mph) was observed at the Deering ASOS. Blizzard conditions were also observed at Buckland from 0756AKST on the 9th through 1716AKST on the 10th. A peak wind gust of 47 kt (54 mph) was observed at the Buckland AWOS.

Zone 211: Six to 8 inches of snow was observed at Golovin along the southern Seward Peninsula Coast. Snowfall amounts were much lighter to the west of Golovin, with only 6 tenths of an inch of snow observed at Nome. The snow began during the morning hours on the 8th and continued through the early morning hours on the 9th.

Zone 212: Heavy snow was observed at Koyuk and Elim with an event total of 18 inches at Koyuk and 12 inches at Elim. The snow began during the early morning hours on the 8th and continued through the late morning hours on the 9th.

Zone 214: Heavy snow was observed at Saint Marys with a storm total of 6 to 8 inches. The snow began during the early morning hours on the 8th and ended during the morning hours on the 9th.

Zone 215: Heavy snow was observed at Anvik with a storm total of 8 inches. The snow may have changed to freezing rain at times at Holy Cross and Marshall as temperatures were just above freezing at times. The snow began late on the evening of the 7th and ended late in the afternoon on the 8th.

Zone 216: Snow fell across the lower Koyukuk Valley and middle Yukon Valleys from the early morning hours on the 8th through the afternoon hours on the 9th. In some areas the snow fell heavily at times. Snowfall amounts ranged from 6 inches at Galena to one foot at Koyukuk. A total of 6 to 8 inches was observed at Ruby.

Zone 217: Heavy snow fell at Ambler with a storm total of 14 inches. The snow began late on the afternoon on the 7th and continued through late evening on the 9th. The snow was accompanied by strong wind at Shungnak which produced significant blowing and drifting snow, and briefly reduced the visibility to one quarter mile during the evening of the 7th. There was a peak wind gust of 43 kt (49 mph) at the Shungnak AWSS.

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 Feb 7, 3:38 PM AKST, 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 7, 3:38 PM AKST, 52 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
338 PM AKST MON FEB 7 2011

UPDATED TO ADD BRISK WIND ADVISORY TO MARINE ZONE 230

.DISCUSSION...
ALOFT...RIDGE OVER NORTH PACIFIC WITH SOME EXTENSION CURRENTLY
NORTHWARD OVER EASTERN AK WHILE A LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER THE
BERING SEA AND CENTRAL NORTH PACIFIC WILL DRIFT EAST AFTER MID
WEEK. WEAK SHORT WAVES MOVING NORTH OVER WESTERN ALASKA TONIGHT
AND EARLY TUESDAY BUT ALSO WEAKENING. STRONG LOW APPROACHING 50 N
LATITUDE WILL MOVE NORTH OVER THE EASTERN AK PENINSULA AND INNER
BRISTOL BAY TUE AND TUE NIGHT WEAKENING AND BECOMING A SHORT WAVE
TROUGH THEREAFTER.

SURFACE...1040 MB HIGH OVER WESTERN CANADA AND THE SOUTHEASTERN
INTERIOR WILL DRIFT EAST OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. WEAK LOW PRESSURE
OVER THE NORTHERN CHUKCHI SEA WILL DRIFT EAST THROUGH TUE AND
DISSIPATE. 974 MB LOW SOUTH OF THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE TO
THE ALASKA PENINSULA 3PM TUE AT 992 MB THEN TO 120 MILES NORTHEAST
OF BETHEL 3AM WED AT 998 MB AND TO 180 MILES NORTHWEST OF
FAIRBANKS 3PM WED AT 1000 MB. WARM FRONT WILL MOVE TO BETHEL TO
ANVIK TO MCGRATH AT 3PM TUE AND THEN TO THE SOUTH SLOPES OF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN BROOKS RANGE 3PM WED BUT WEAKENING. COLD
FRONT FROM LOW TO COLD BAY 3AM WED AND FROM LOW TO MCGRATH TO
BETHEL 3PM WED.

MODELS...NAM AND GFS AGREE FAIRLY WELL ON POSITION AND STRENGTH OF
SURFACE LOW AND FEATURES ALOFT THROUGH 12Z WED...BUT THEREAFTER
GFS MOVES IT TOO FAST TO THE NORTHEAST...COMPARED TO NAM AND
EUROPEAN MODELS...SO HAVE DISCOUNTED GFS POSITION AT 3PM
WED...INSTEAD HOLDING THE LOW FARTHER WEST AT THAT TIME. IN THE
EXTENDED RANGE OF FRI THROUGH MON...BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF HAVE
THE UPPER TROUGH LOCKED IN OVER EASTERN AK WITH 850 MB TEMPS OF
-25C TO -30C.

NORTH SLOPE...THE WEAK SHORT WAVES MOVING NORTH WILL SPREAD SOME
LIGHT SNOW NORTH OVER WESTERN ZONES TONIGHT AND TUE BUT ENDING
FROM THE SOUTH BEFORE TUE EVENING. TUE NIGHT SNOW FROM THE WARM
FRONT MOVING NORTH OVER WESTERN AK WILL BEGIN TO MOVE OVER ZONE
205...ON WED IT WILL SPREAD OVER 201 202 203 IN THEMORNING AND THE
EASTERN ZONES IN THE PM. EXPECT AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES...WINDS
THROUGH THIS TIME FRAME WILL BE LIGHT ENOUGH TO ONLY PRODUCE
SPOTTY BLOWING SNOW.

WESTERN ALASKA...SOME LIGHT SNOW AND LOCAL BLOWING SNOW MOVING
NORTH OVER THE COASTAL ZONES TONIGHT AND LINGERING IN THE NORTH
ON TUE. THE LOW IN THE NORTH PCIFIC WILL SPREAD STRONG WARM
ADVECTION NORTH OVER THE AREA LATE TONIGHT THROUGH WED...AND HAVE
UPGRADED THE WATCHES FOR ZONES 210 212 214 215 AND 216 FOR WINTER
STORM CONDITIONS...EXPECTING SNOWFALL AMOUNTS IN 24 HOURS COULD
REACH 6 INCHES IN THE WEST AND 8 INCHES IN THE EAST. SNOW MIXING
WITH RAIN OR FREEZING RAIN WEDNESDAY OVER ZONES 214 AND
215...POSSIBLY 212 AND SOUTHERN 216. HAVE ADDED WINTER STORM
WATCHES FOR ZONES 209 AND 217 TUE NIGHT AND WED AS IT LOOKS LIKE
DECENT ENOUGH SNOWFALL THESE SONES...THOUGH FOR 209 THE HIGHEST
AMOUNTS LOOK TO FALL EAST OF KOTZEBUE. LIGHTER AMOUNTS OF SNOW
MOVING OVER ZONE 227 TUE THROUGH WED...AND SUSPECT LITTLE IF ANY
LIQUID PRECIP OR AT WORST JUST ADVISORY LEVELS.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR...SOUTHERLY WINDS ACROSS ALASKA
RANGE PICKING UP TUE AFTERNOON CONTINUING INTO WEDNESDAY. THIS
DOWNSLOPE FLOW SHIELDING THE SOUTHERN ZONES FROM PRECIPITATION
THROUGH WED.. ESPECIALLY ZONES 222 223 224 225 226. SNOW
SPREADING ACROSS 219 AND 220 TUE EVENING AND FAR WESTERN
221..CONTINUING INTO WEDNESDAY. AMOUNTS EXPECTED TO BE 1 TO 2
INCHES...THOUGH UP TO 4 INCHES WESTERN ZONE 219 THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ225-AKZ226-AKZ227.

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ210-AKZ212-AKZ214-AKZ215-AKZ216.

WINTER STORM WATCH FOR AKZ209-AKZ211-AKZ217.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ230.
&&

JL FEB 11

Event by event

5 heavy snow, 3 winter storm, 3 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys

When: February 7, 4:30 PM AKST to February 9, 10:00 PM AKST
Where: Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys forecast zone
Reported by: State Official

Winter Storm, Lower Yukon Valley

When: February 7, 11:30 PM AKST to February 9, 6:00 AM AKST
Where: Lower Yukon Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Heavy Snow, Yukon Delta

When: February 8, 3:00 AM AKST to February 9, 10:00 AM AKST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: State Official

Heavy Snow, Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills

When: February 8, 5:00 AM AKST to February 9, 10:00 AM AKST
Where: Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills forecast zone
Reported by: State Official

Heavy Snow, Lower Koyukuk Middle Ykn Vlys

When: February 8, 6:00 AM AKST to February 9, 3:00 PM AKST
Where: Lower Koyukuk Middle Ykn Vlys forecast zone
Reported by: State Official

Heavy Snow, Srn Seward Peninsula Coast

When: February 8, 9:00 AM AKST to February 9, 5:00 AM AKST
Where: Srn Seward Peninsula Coast forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Winter Storm, Lower Kobuk & Noatak Valleys

When: February 8, 2:00 PM AKST to February 9, 5:00 PM AKST
Where: Lower Kobuk & Noatak Valleys forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Heavy Snow, N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W

When: February 8, 6:00 PM AKST to February 9, 10:00 PM AKST
Where: N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W forecast zone
Reported by: State Official

Blizzard, Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula

When: February 9, 4:53 AM AKST to February 10, 5:16 PM AKST
Where: Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: February 9, 5:53 AM AKST to 10:00 PM AKST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: February 9, 12:00 PM AKST to 5:00 PM AKST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
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 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: 272449, 272840, 272436, 272432, 272435, 272433, 272842, 272450, 271823, 271829, 271830.