Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Arctic Coast
- When
- January 25, 5:00 AM AKST to January 26, 3:00 AM AKST
- Where
- Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- Law Enforcement
Extreme Cold in Alaska, January 25 to 26, 2011
Temperatures of 30 to 35 below zero combined with a northeast wind of 15 to 20 mph to produce wind chills of 60 to 65 below zero from approximately 0500AKST on the 25th through 0300AKST on the 26th.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
Temperatures of 30 to 35 below zero combined with a northeast wind of 15 to 20 mph to produce wind chills of 60 to 65 below zero from approximately 0500AKST on the 25th through 0300AKST on the 26th.
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 Jan 25, 2:07 AM AKST, 2 hours 53 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 25, 2:07 AM AKST, 2 hours 53 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 207 AM AKST TUE JAN 25 2011 .DISCUSSION... CURRENT RUNS FROM THE GFS/NAM/EUROPEAN AND GEM ARE IN GENERALLY GOOD AGREEMENT OUT THROUGH 12Z FRI. 974 MB LOW S OF NUNIVAK ISLAND WILL MOVE TO ABOUT 100 NM S OF ST MATTHEW ISLAND BY 12Z SUN FILLING TO 982 MB...WEAKENING TO A VERY WEAK 988-990 MB CENTER ABOUT 100 NM W OF ST MATTHEW ISLAND BY 12Z THU AS IT BECOMES ABSORBED IN THE CIRCULATION AROUND A DEEP 955-960 MB LOW SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS. FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAKENING 976 MB LOW NEAR MIDDLETON ISLAND WILL RAPIDLY BECOME BROKEN UP AS IT CROSSES THE ALASKA RANGE...LIGHT SNOW OR SNOW SHOWERS MAY SPREAD NORTHWARD UP THE WEST COAST TODAY THROUGH WED. WEAKENING SHORT WAVE CROSSING THE ALASKA RANGE COULD BRING SOME FLURRIES OR A DUSTING OF LIGHT SNOW TO SOME INTERIOR AREAS WED NIGHT INTO THU MORNING. WINDS INCREASING OVER THE WEST COAST AND WEST COAST MARINE AREAS BEGINNING THU AFTERNOON AS A DEEP 955-960 MB LOW MOVES NORTHWARD TO THE ALEUTIANS WEST OF DUTCH HARBOR. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP OVER ST LAWRENCE ISLAND THU EVENING...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW POSSIBLE IN ZONES 210-211-212-214. BLIZZARD WATCH MAY BE NEEDED FOR ZONE 213 ON THE TUE AFTERNOON OR WED MORNING FORECASTS. STRONG RIDGING ALOFT IS EXPECTED TO BUILD OVER THE INTERIOR AND ARCTIC REGIONS FROM THU INTO THE WEEKEND...BRINGING AN END TO THE VERY COLD TEMPERATURES OVER THE ARCTIC SLOPE. THE MONDAY AFTERNOON RAOB AT FAIRBANKS SHOWED TEMPERATURES ABOVE -5C FROM 890 MB TO 820 MB. TEMPERATURES ALOFT MAY TEMPORARILY COOL A BIT WITH THE NORTHWARD MOVING SHORT WAVE THEN RISE AGAIN WITH THE BUILDING UPPER RIDGE. WILL KEEP THE WIND CHILL ADVISORY GOING FOR ZONE 207 TILL NOON TODAY...POINT HOPE TEMPERATURES SHOULD RISE A FEW DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON WHICH SHOULD NUDGE THE WIND CHILL NUMBERS INTO THE -30S. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ207. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ220-PKZ225. && RF JAN 11 .DISCUSSION... && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ207. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ220-PKZ225. && RF JAN 11
Event by event
1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
- Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Kentucky, January 25 to 26, 2011
- Damaging Winds in Florida, January 25, 2011
- Tornadoes and Hail in Florida, January 25, 2011
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Florida, January 25 to 26, 2011
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Tennessee, January 25 to 26, 2011
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Florida, January 25, 2011
- Heavy Snow in Kentucky, January 25 to 26, 2011
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds and Waterspout in Gulf of Mexico, January 25, 2011
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Indiana, January 25 to 26, 2011
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, January 25, 2011
- Winter Weather in New Jersey, January 25, 2011
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, January 25 to 26, 2011
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 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: 269377.