Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- January 27, 6:36 PM AKST to January 28, 2:56 AM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, January 27 to 28, 2011
A 960 mb low moving north crossed the Aleutians during the afternoon hours on the 27th and weakened to 974 mb 200 miles west of Saint Matthew island by 3 pm AKST on the 28th. The low combined with a 1037 mb in Northwest Canada to produce strong winds on Saint Lawrence Island and along parts of the Bering Strait Coast.
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.
A 960 mb low moving north crossed the Aleutians during the afternoon hours on the 27th and weakened to 974 mb 200 miles west of Saint Matthew island by 3 pm AKST on the 28th. The low combined with a 1037 mb in Northwest Canada to produce strong winds on Saint Lawrence Island and along parts of the Bering Strait Coast. Snow accompanied the strong winds on Saint Lawrence Island and produced blizzard conditions at Gambell. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less at Gambell from 1836AKST on the 27th through 0256AKST on the 28th. There was a peak wind gust to 44 kt (51 mph) at the Gambell AWOS. The visibilities remained above one half mile at Savoonga and along the Bering Strait Coast, however, a peak wind gust of 46 kt (53 mph) was observed at the Wales 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 Jan 27, 2:30 PM AKST, 4 hours 6 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 27, 2:30 PM AKST, 4 hours 6 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 230 PM AKST THU JAN 27 2011 .DISCUSSION... THE GFS AND NAM COMPUTER WEATHER FORECAST MODELS BOTH FORECAST HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA TO BUILD UP OVER THE YUKON TERRITORY OF CANADA BY SATURDAY. CONTINUED SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER NORTHERN ALASKA WILL CONTINUE TO BRING TEMPERATURES UP...ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTHERN INTERIOR...WHERE AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE TEENS AND 20S STARTING MONDAY. A 956 MB SURFACE LOW WHICH CROSSED THE ALEUTIANS NEAR 170 DEGREES WEST LONGITUDE AT NOON IS FORECAST TO MOVE NORTHWESTWARD AND TO GRADUALLY WEAKEN...BECOMING A 980 MB LOW NEAR ANADYR FRIDAY NIGHT. FULL GALE FORCE WINDS ARE BLOWING OVER MUCH OF THE WEST COAST OF ALASKA UP TO BERING STRAIT...THOUGH WINDS IN NORTON SOUND ARE FORECAST TO BE ONLY 30 KNOTS. AFTER THIS FIRST LOW WEAKENS OVER SIBERIA SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT...THE NEXT PACIFIC LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM / LOW NUMBER 2 / IS EXPECTED TO MOVE UP OVER THE ALASKA MAINLAND WEST COAST FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON TO MONDAY AFTERNOON. THIS LOW IS NOT FORECAST TO BE ANYWHERE NEAR AS STRONG AS ITS PREDECESSOR. THE WEST PACIFIC GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE IMAGERY CONFIRMS THIS. THE INBOUND LOW HAS BEEN MOVING EASTWARD ABOUT 35 KNOTS AND IS NOW CROSSING THE DATE LINE NEAR 40 DEGREES NORTH LATITUDE. IT IS NOT BRINGING THE LARGE SOLID DECK OF CLOUDS OF ITS PREDECESSORS. FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE OF LOW NUMBER 2...THE GFS FORECASTS A THIRD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TO MOVE NORTHWARD OVER THE ALASKA MAINLAND ON TUESDAY. THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BE WEAKER THAN LOW NUMBER 2...A REASONABLE PREDICTION FOR A LOW MOVING UP OVER THE WINTERTIME MAINLAND. THE FORECAST DURATION OF THE SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER THE ALASKA MAINLAND IS QUITE LONG...RUNNING THROUGH ALL OF NEXT WEEK AND PERHAPS BEYOND. ULTIMATELY...THE ALEUTIAN LOW ALOFT AND THE HIGH ALOFT OVER WEST CANADA WILL RETROGRADE / MOVE TO THE WEST / AND THEN COOLER WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED OVER NORTHERN ALASKA. THIS CHANGE HAD BEEN FORECAST TO TAKE PLACE EARLIER THAN INDICATED ON CURRENT FORECASTS. AFTERNOON POLAR SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A DECK OF STRATOCUMULUS OVER THE ARCTIC NORTHWEST OF BARROW GRADUALLY ADVANCING TOWARD THE COAST. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ213. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ215-PKZ220. && TF JAN 11
Event by event
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
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: 269700.