Heavy Snow in Alaska, October 25 to 26, 2011

Name: Heavy Snow in Alaska, October 25 to 26, 2011
Start: 2011-10-25T07:00
End: 2011-10-26T18:00
Location: Alaska

October 25 to 26, 2011 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A 985 mb low near the Bering Strait brought heavy snowfall to the Kotzebue area. 6 inches 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.

A 985 mb low near the Bering Strait brought heavy snowfall to the Kotzebue area. A total of 7.9 inches of snow fell on the 25th, with an additional 4.6 inches on the 26th. There was a storm total of 12.5 inches at the Kotzebue WFO. The 7.9 inches of snow that fell on the 25th was the greatest calendar day snowfall on record for Kotzebue during the month of October. The 2-day total of 12.5 inches was also the greatest 2-day snowfall on record for Kotzebue during the month of October. The old records were established in 1973. Approximately 8 to 9 inches of snow was observed at Selawik.

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 Oct 25, 5:35 AM AKST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 25, 5:35 AM AKST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 25, 1:37 AM AKST, 5 hours 23 minutes before

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Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: October 25, 7:00 AM AKST to October 26, 6:00 PM AKST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, October 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 344116.