Name: Blizzard in Alaska, November 8, 2011
Start: 2011-11-08T10:00
End: 2011-11-08T21:00
Location: Alaska

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 AFC wrote it up.

A potent low in the northern Gulf of Alaska produced snow and strong gap outflow wind through Thompson Pass resulting in a blizzard.

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 8, 5:26 AM AKST, 4 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 8, 5:26 AM AKST, 4 hours 34 minutes before

SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
500 AM AKST MON NOV 7 2011

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...

DEEP UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OVER MAINLAND AK THIS MORNING WITH ANOTHER
OVER KAMCHATKA AND THE EXTREME WESTERN BERING. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL
RIDGE AXIS EXTENDS FROM THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS THROUGH THE BERING
STRAIT...WHILE A WEAKER RIDGE IS OVER SE AK. AT THE SURFACE...A
RAPIDLY DEEPENING LOW IS JUST WEST OF ATTU AND A BROAD AREA OF LOW
PRESSURE IS OVER THE GULF OF AK.

.MODEL DISCUSSION...

MODELS ARE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION FOR THE FIRST THREE DAYS. THE MAJOR
WEATHER PROBLEM IS THE LOW WEST OF ATTU THAT WILL RAPIDLY DEEPEN AND
MOVE INTO EXTREME EASTERN RUSSIA TUE NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN
BUILD INTO THE BERING THROUGH THU WHEN A NORTH PACIFIC LOW SKIRTS
JUST SOUTH OF THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS. A FRONT FROM A KAMCHATKA LOW
WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE WESTERN BERING THU NIGHT INTO FRI. IN THE
EAST...THE BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE GULF WILL SET UP A
TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AND ASSOCIATED
AREAS THROUGH TUE NIGHT. A WEAK LOW DEVELOPS NEAR KODIAK ISLAND ON
WED AND MOVES TO PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND BY THU. HIGH PRESSURE THEN
BUILDS INTO THE AREA THROUGH FRI.

THE FORECAST UTILIZES THE NAM FOR THE FIRST THREE DAYS AND THEN AN
HPC/GFS BLEND THROUGH THE EXTENDED.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...

IN THE WEST...
HURRICANE FORCE WIND WITH RAIN WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND
BE FOLLOWED BY STORMS AND GALES THAT SLOWLY DIMINISH BY WED NIGHT.
RAIN SHOWERS WILL ALSO CHANGE TO SNOW SHOWERS BY THAT TIME. A WEATHER
FRONT FROM THE KAMCHATKA LOW WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION WITH MORE
GALES AND SNOW SHOWERS INTO FRI.

FOR SW AK...
VERY STRONG WINDS WILL AFFECT THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. RAPID
WARMING IN ADVANCE OF THE BERING SYSTEM WILL REDUCE THE CHANCE OF
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS...ALTHOUGH AREAS AWAY FROM THE SOUTHWEST AK COAST
WILL EXPERIENCE SNOW CHANGING TO OR MIXING WITH RAIN THROUGH TONIGHT.
RAIN SHOWERS AND THEN SNOW SHOWERS WILL AFFECT THE AREA THROUGH THU
AS STRONG ONSHORE FLOW SETS UP AND PERSISTS. A WEAK RIDGE WILL BRING
DRYING ON FRI.

SOUTH AND EAST OF THE AK RANGE. AS THE LOW FORMS IN THE GULF SNOW
SHOWERS WILL MOVE EAST OF THE TALKEETNAS. A TIGHTENING OF THE
PRESSURE GRADIENT TODAY AND TONIGHT WILL BRING STRONG WINDS TO
CHANNELED TERRAIN...AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TO THOMPSON PASS. ON WED
THE SOUTHERN END OF THE BERING WEATHER FRONT WILL BRING WIDESPREAD
SNOW SHOWERS WHICH WILL END EARLY THU AND DRYING RESUMES.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...

SNOW SHOWERS AND WIND WILL PERSIST IN THE WEST INTO THE
WEEKEND...REACHING SW AK BY SAT. DRYING WILL CONTINUE SE OF THE AK
RANGE INTO THE WEEKEND AS WELL.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...HIGH WIND WARNING 155 187 191 195
         BLIZZARD WARNING 131
MARINE...HURRICANE FORCE 172 175 176 179 180 185
         STORM 170
         GALE 130 132 138 150 155 160 165 171
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

DS NOV 11

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Nern P.W. Snd

When: November 8, 10:00 AM AKST to 9:00 PM AKST
Where: Nern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways

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: 347165.