January 11 through January 17th. A 1060 MB super high cell built over the northern Alcan 1/11 and extended to the southeast over the Yukon.
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.
January 11 through January 17th. A 1060 MB super high cell built over the northern Alcan 1/11 and extended to the southeast over the Yukon. Pressure gradients were extreme for gap outflow offshore winds. This pattern persisted for days as a result of a blocking high aloft. On 1/17 a warm front (arctic) moved to the Queen Charlotte Islands associated with a gale center far to the southwest for over-running snow for the southern Panhandle. This low weakened as it moved over the southern Panhandle on the 17th.
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 Jan 11, 5:51 AM AKST, 3 hours 9 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK 551 AM AKST TUE JAN 11 2011 .SHORT TERM...EARLY MORNING SATELLITE LOOP REVEALS A WEAKENING INVERTED TROUGH ALONG THE PANHANDLE COAST WITH PERSISTING HIGH PRESSURE OVER NORTHWESTERN CANADA. A MID TO UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH DIGGING SOUTHWEST ACROSS THE PANHANDLE SPILLS SOME MIDDLE TO HIGH CLOUDS ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PANHANDLE. TIGHTENED NORTHERLY PRESSURE GRADIENT CONTINUES TO GENERATE GUSTY WINDS UP TO 35 MPH ACROSS THE SKAGWAY AREA...AND OUT OF INTERIOR PASSES ACROSS THE PANHANDLE. ALONG WITH THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH...ENTRAINMENT OF COLD ARCTIC AIR MASS CONTINUES ACROSS THE FORECAST DOMAIN. MODELS ARE IN FAIR AGREEMENT WITH HIGH PRESSURE OVER NORTHWESTERN CANADA CONTINUING TO BUILD THROUGH TONIGHT AND THE WEAK INVERTED TROUGH REMAINING ACROSS THE OUTSIDE COASTAL WATERS. REFRESHED THE INHERITED GRIDS WITH THE NAM FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT. AS HIGH PRESSURE OVER NORTHWESTERN CANADA REBUILDS TODAY...OUTFLOW WINDS WILL BECOME STRONGER ACROSS THE PANHANDLE THIS MORNING AND CONTINUE THROUGH MIDDLE OF THIS WEEK. ADVISORY LEVEL WIND GUSTS WILL BE DEVELOPING BY MID MORNING TODAY FOR MOST INTERIOR ZONES AND STRONG TAKU WIND EVENT IS EXPECTED FOR DOWNTOWN JUNEAU AND DOUGLAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING HOURS. KEPT WIND ADVISORIES FOR YAKUTAT...GUSTAVUS...ELFIN COVE AREAS AS THEY ARE AND ADDED PETERSBURG AND HYDER ZONES. ALSO ISSUED HIGH WIND WARNING FOR TAKU WIND SCENARIO. A COLD AIR ADVECTION WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA. THE WIND ADVISORIES FOR SKAGWAY AND HAINES AREAS WERE COMBINED WITH WIND CHILL ADVISORIES AND ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THEM. ACROSS THE MARINE ZONES...GALES WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE NORTHERN INNER CHANNELS TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY TONIGHT. GALE FORCE OUTFLOW WILL ALSO LIKELY TO EXPAND INTO THE NORTHERN OUTSIDE COASTAL WATERS LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. THE REMAINING OF THE COASTAL WATERS AND INNER CHANNELS WILL SEE SMALL CRAFT WINDS WITH FREEZING SPRAY ACROSS STEPHENS PASSAGE AND FREDERICK SOUND. && .LONG TERM...THE WIND EVENT THAT BEGINS IN THE SHORT TERM FORECAST PERIOD IS EXPECTED TO REACH PEAK INTENSITY EARLY ON IN THE EXTENDED RANGE FORECAST PERIOD ON WEDNESDAY. INGREDIENTS FOR A SIGNIFICANT TAKU WIND EVENT ARE ALL THERE...WITH FAVORABLE TO VERY FAVORABLE NUMBERS FOR CRITICAL LEVEL...CROSS BARRIER FLOW...AND INVERSION FROM EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. THIS WIND EVENT WILL TAPER OFF SLOWLY AND ADVISORY LEVEL GUSTS WILL CONTINUE THEREAFTER IN ZONE 25 AS WELL AS THE OTHER ZONES UNDER ADVISORIES INTO THURSDAY. VERY COLD AIR FROM CANADA WILL CONTINUE TO SPILL OVER THE COAST MOUNTAINS AND THROUGH INTERIOR PASSES AS WELL DURING THE EXTENDED RANGE FORECAST PERIOD DRIVING DOWN DAYTIME HIGHS AND LOWS TO WELL BELOW NORMAL VALUES. COLD TEMPS AND STRONG WINDS WILL PRODUCE FREEZING SPRAY OVER MUCH OF THE INNER CHANNELS AS WELL AS THE COASTAL MARINE WATERS FROM CAPE EDGECUMBE TO ICY BAY. OVER LAND...WIND CHILL WILL BE AN ISSUE AS WELL. HAVE CHILL TEMPS DOWN TO 50 DEGREES BELOW ZERO FOR THE KLONDIKE HIGHWAY AT TIMES...WHICH IS JUST SHORT OF WARNING CRITERIA. REGARDLESS...WINDS...WIND CHILL...AND FREEZING SPRAY WILL PRESENT SIGNIFICANT HAZARDS TO ALL FORMS OF TRAVEL AND INDIVIDUALS EXPOSED OUT OF DOORS. THE NORTHEAST PRESSURE GRADIENT BEING CREATED BY HIGH PRESSURE OVER WESTERN CANADA AND LOW PRESSURE OVER THE GULF WILL REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH AT LEAST THE WEEKEND...SO COLD AND WINDY CONDITIONS WILL BE WITH US FOR A WHILE. USED A BLEND OF NAM AND ECMWF FOR UPDATES TO GRIDS THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. FORECAST CONFIDENCE IN STRONG WINDS AND WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH THAT TIME IS ABOVE AVERAGE. .AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 3 AM AKST WEDNESDAY FOR AKZ026. HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 3 AM AKST THURSDAY FOR AKZ025. WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 3 AM AKST THURSDAY FOR AKZ017-022-029. WIND ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 3 AM AKST THURSDAY FOR AKZ020. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 3 AM AKST THURSDAY FOR AKZ018-019. MARINE...HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING FOR PKZ011-012. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ011>013-031-043-051. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ021-022-032-034>036-042-052. && AHN/FRITSCH
5 winter storm, 4 high wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Damaging wind storm for days. Douglas Boat Harbor (FAA) had numerous gusts in the 80 MPH range. Wind shields were broken. Boats on trailers overturned. Infrastructure damaged.
Cape Spenser had a sustained wind of 53 KT at 1900 AKST on the evening of 1/12. Although a marine observation, analysis showed that similar wind was occurring over land. No known damage.
Damaging wind storm for days. Douglas Boat Harbor (FAA) had numerous gusts in the 80 MPH range. Wind shields were broken. Boats on trailers overturned. Infrastructure damaged.
Edna Bay spotter observed 7 inches new snow at 1800 AKST on 1/16. Most of that snow fell in the morning. Klawock had freezing rain that afternoon and the peak gust during the event was 34 KT. Nasty couple of days.
Meyers Chuck measured 7 inches new snowfall on the morning of 1/16 and 5 new inches on the morning of 1/17. Ketchikan got less snow.
Hyder measured 2.2 inches new snow on the 15th, 9.0 inches on the 16th, and 7.8 inches on the 17th and 3.4 inches on the 18th for a storm total of 22.4 inches snow.
Cape Spenser had a peak wind of 78 KT at 1200 AKST on the afternoon of 1/14. Although a marine observation, analysis showed that similar wind was occurring over land. No known damage.
Snow, wind, wind chill, blowing and drifting snow were the hazards in a storm that hit the Skagway area and Klondike Highway on the night of the 15th into the evening of the 16th. Peak wind of 49 KT occurred at Skagway airport on the afternoon of the 16th and 40s were quite common during the storm. The lowest visibility was 1.5 miles but only a couple of inches of dry, light snow fell. Driving was hazardous in blowing and drifting snow further up the Klondike highway. No accidents were reported.
Storm totals for this event ranged from 14 to 22 inches new snowfall.
Hidden Falls hatchery had a storm total of 28.5 inches new snow for this event.
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, January 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: 280993, 280995, 280994, 281002, 281013, 281014, 280996, 281271, 281016, 281372.