Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- February 25, 5:00 AM AKST to 12:45 PM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, February 25, 2012
A 986 mb low in the southeast Bering Sea combined with a 1045 mb high in eastern Russia to produce snow and strong wind on Saint Lawrence Island and through the Bering Strait. Blizzard conditions were observed at Gambell from approximately 0500AKST through 1245AKST on the 25th.
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 986 mb low in the southeast Bering Sea combined with a 1045 mb high in eastern Russia to produce snow and strong wind on Saint Lawrence Island and through the Bering Strait. Blizzard conditions were observed at Gambell from approximately 0500AKST through 1245AKST on the 25th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile in snow and blowing snow. The anemometer at Gambell was inoperable during the event, but based on the pressure gradient it is likely that the wind gusted over 50 mph. At Tin City, a temperature of around 25 below combined with a north wind of 30 to 40 mph to produce wind chills as low as 64 below. The wind chills were 60 below or lower from approximately 0400AKST through 1600AKST on the 25th, and again at times during the morning hours on the 26th. The anemometer at Tin City is on an elevated platform and is not necessary representative of conditions on the ground. Both Wales and Teller did not have wind chills as low as 60 below.
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 Feb 25, 12:02 AM AKST, 4 hours 58 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 25, 12:02 AM AKST, 4 hours 58 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 1202 AM AKST SAT FEB 25 2012 .DISCUSSION... CURRENT MODELS ARE IN GENERALLY GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE SHORT TERM OUT THROUGH 00Z TUE. 968 MB LOW JUST S OF SHEMYA IS PROGGED TO MOVE TO ABOUT 100 MILES SW OF CAPE NEWENHAM BY 00Z MON...FILLING TO AROUND 990 MB. 1040+ MB HIGH PRESSURE WILL PERSIST OVER ERN SIBERIA AND NWD INTO THE ARCTIC OCEAN. NE GALES DEVELOPING IN PKZ210...BRISK WIND IN PKZ200 AS THE ASSOCIATED FRONT STRETCHES NWD AND EWD. SNOW DVLPG IN SRN AKZ214 AND AKZ215 THIS AFTERNOON. SNOW IN AKZ214-AKZ215-AKZ216-AKZ227 TONIGHT THROUGH SUN. 24 HR SNOW AMOUNTS UP TO AROUND 5 INCHES IN AKZ214-AKZ215-AKZ216 AND UP TO AROUND 8 INCHES IN AKZ227. WILL POST WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES FOR AKZ215-AKZ216. SNOW SPREADING INTO AKZ221-SRN SLOPES AK RANGE IN AKZ225-226 SAT NIGHT AND INTO AKZ219-AKZ220-AKZ222-NRN AKZ224 SUN. ALOFT...FLAT RIDGE MOVING EWD ACROSS THE SRN PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT AND SUN. COLD UPPER TROUGH WILL GRADUALLY EXPAND OVER THE NRN AK MAINLAND SUN NIGHT INTO TUE...850 MB TEMPERATURES FALLING TO BELOW -20C OVER MOST AREAS...THIS COLDER AIR WILL LIKELY REMAIN OVER THE AREAS INTO NEXT WEEKEND. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ215-AKZ216. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200. && RF FEB 12
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
- Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, February 25, 2012
- High Wind in Massachusetts, February 25, 2012
- High Wind in Virginia, February 25, 2012
- Lake-Effect Snow in New York, February 25, 2012
- Lake-Effect Snow in Pennsylvania, February 25, 2012
- Lake-Effect Snow in Ohio, February 25, 2012
- High Wind in Nevada, February 25, 2012
- Winter Storm in North Dakota, February 25 to 27, 2012
- High Wind in Wyoming, February 25 to 26, 2012
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, February 25 to 27, 2012
- Astronomical Low Tide in New Jersey, February 25 to 26, 2012
- Heavy Snow in North Dakota, February 25 to 27, 2012
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 2012
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: 358780.