Name: Blizzard in Alaska, November 22 to 23, 2011
Start: 2011-11-22T06:30
End: 2011-11-23T08:30
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 AFC wrote it up.

A storm in the Gulf of Alaska produce gusty west wind and blowing snow resulted in blizzard conditions in the Whittier area. Strong northeast wind with snow resulted in blizzard conditions through Thompson Pass.

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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 22, 5:50 AM AKST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 22, 5:50 AM AKST, 40 minutes before

SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
550 AM AKST TUE NOV 22 2011

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
A COLD UPPER LOW IS DROPPING INTO THE NORTHERN GULF OF ALASKA THIS
MORNING. ACCOMPANYING THIS LOW IS SOME OF THE COLDEST AIR OF THE
SEASON SO FAR. WIND CHILL ADVISORIES REMAIN OUT FOR ALL OF SOUTHWEST
ALASKA AS WELL AS THE SUSITNA VALLEY AND THOMPSON PASS IN
SOUTHCENTRAL. MEANWHILE...A RELATIVELY WEAK SURFACE LOW HAS DEVELOPED
IN THE NORTHERN GULF. THIS IS SPREADING LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW ACROSS
BOTH COASTAL AREAS AS WELL AS INLAND AREAS AROUND COOK INLET. THIS
FALLING SNOW IS EXTRAORDINARILY LIGHT AND FLUFFY...AND IS BEING
EASILY BLOWN AROUND BY GUSTY WINDS AROUND PARTS OF ANCHORAGE. FURTHER
SOUTH...HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ARE BLOWING ACROSS THE BARREN ISLANDS
AND KODIAK ISLAND AS COLD AND DENSE AIR FROM SOUTHWEST ACCELERATES
THROUGH THE GAPS IN THE ALASKA AND ALEUTIAN MOUNTAIN RANGES.

OUT WEST...HIGH PRESSURE IS HANGING TOUGH OVER THE CENTRAL BERING
SEA...CREATING UNSEASONABLY CALM WEATHER FOR MANY AREAS.

.MODEL DISCUSSION...
MODELS ARE DOING QUITE WELL WITH THE OVERALL SYNOPTIC PATTERN...BUT
ARE STRUGGLING A BIT WITH SOME OF THE FINER DETAILS OF THE SMALL
SURFACE LOWS THAT WILL BE ROTATING AROUND IN THE GULF THROUGH
MIDWEEK. THOUGHT NOT PERFECT...THE NAM HAS INITIALIZED BEST WITH THE
SURFACE LOW CURRENTLY OUTSIDE PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND. THUS THE NAM WAS
USED TO MAKE MAINLY MINOR CHANGES TO THE EXISTING FORECAST.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
SOUTHCENTRAL...WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN
THE LOW IN THE GULF AND HIGH PRESSURE IN THE INTERIOR WILL PEAK BY
LATE THIS MORNING ACROSS THE BARREN ISLANDS AND KODIAK ISLAND ZONE.
MEANWHILE...THE LOW CURRENTLY NEAR PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND WILL WEAKEN
AND MAIN ENERGY IN THE GULF SHOULD SHIFT SOUTHWARD BY MIDDAY TODAY.
THIS SHOULD ALLOW THE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVER THE EASTERN KENAI
PENINSULA TO ABATE THIS AFTERNOON AS WINDS DECREASE AND FALLING SNOW
DIMINISHES. WIDESPREAD OVERRUNNING SNOWFALL SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH
EARLY AFTERNOON ACROSS THE ANCHORAGE BOWL AND THE WESTERN KENAI
PENINSULA...AS SUPPORTED BY THE SUBSTANTIAL TEMPERATURE INVERSION
PRESENT ON THE MORNING SOUNDING.

WEST OF THE ALASKA RANGE...COLD AND BREEZY CONDITIONS WITH DANGEROUS
WIND CHILLS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING BEFORE THE WIND
DIMINISHES. HOWEVER...COLD AIR WILL REMAIN THROUGH THE END OF THE
WEEK. HIGH PRESSURE OVER MOST OF THE ALEUTIANS SLOWLY
WEAKENS...ALLOWING A RELATIVELY WEAK LOW TO CROSS THE WESTERN
ALEUTIANS LATE WEDNESDAY WITH MINIMAL IMPACTS.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...
THE OVERALL PATTERN OF COLD AND MOSTLY DRY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE FOR
THE MAINLAND THROUGH THE WEEKEND. LONG RANGE MODELS ARE STILL
SUGGESTING A PATTERN SHIFT BY THE END OF THE WEEKEND THAT SHOULD
BRING WARMER BUT MORE ACTIVE WEATHER TO MOST OF THE STATE.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 171
         BLIZZARD WARNING 125
         WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY 101
         WIND CHILL ADVISORY 131 145 152 155 161
MARINE...STORM 130 132 150
         GALE 121 126 127 128 129 138 140 141 155 160 165 180 185
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 120 121 126 127 128 129 130 132 138 140
                              141 160 180 185
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

DIXON NOV 11

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Nern P.W. Snd

When: November 22, 6:30 AM AKST to 1:30 PM AKST
Where: Nern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways

Blizzard, Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns

When: November 23, 3:20 AM AKST to 8:30 AM AKST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

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 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, November 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: 349784, 349778.