Name: Extreme Cold in Alaska, February 3 to 4, 2012
Start: 2012-02-03T02:30
End: 2012-02-04T08:00
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

Zone 207: At Kivalina, temperatures of 28 to 31 below zero combined with a south wind of 15 to 25 mph to produce wind chills as low as 64 below zero at the Kivalina ASOS. The wind chills were 60 below or lower from approximately 0230AKST through 1700AKST on the 3rd. At Point Hope, temperatures of 27 to 33 below combined with a south wind of 20 to 25 mph to produce wind chills as low as 67 below at the Point Hope AWOS. The wind chills were 60 below or lower from approximately 0930AKST through 1930AKST on the 3rd.

Zone 209: At Kotzebue, temperatures of 36 to 38 below combined with an east wind of 15 to 20 mph to produce wind chills as low as 69 below zero at the Kotzebue ASOS. The wind chills were 60 below or lower from 1130AKST through 1700AKST on the 3rd. At Selawik, temperatures of 29 to 40 below combined with a northeast wind of 15 to 30 mph to produce wind chills as low as 73 below zero at the Selawik AWOS. The wind chills were 60 below or lower from approximately 2200AKST on the 3rd through 0800AKST on the 4th. At Noorvik, temperatures of 28 to 38 below combined with a northeast wind of 15 to 25 mph to produce wind chills as low as 68 below zero at the Noorvik AWOS. The wind chills were 60 below or lower from approximately 2100AKST on the 3rd through 0115AKST on the 4th.

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 2, 5:43 PM AKST, 8 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 5:43 PM AKST, 8 hours 47 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
543 PM AKST THU FEB 2 2012

.SYNOPSIS...
ALOFT...
THE LONG WAVE PATTERN HAS SHIFTED TO CONSIST OF A RIDGE OVER NW
CANADA AND EASTERN ALASKA AND A TROUGH OVER THE BERING. THE
PATTERN LOOKS LIKE IT WILL REMAIN IN PLACE BUT BECOME MORE
AMPLIFIED THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL CAUSE A WARMING TO ABOVE
NORMAL TEMPERATURES OVER NORTHERN ALASKA BY SUNDAY. IT WILL ALSO
CAUSE SOUTH FLOW ALOFT TO BRING ABOUT MORE RAPID CHANGES IN
WEATHER THROUGH THE WEEKEND OVER NORTHERN ALASKA.

A SHORT WAVE TROUGH FROM THE BERING STRAIT TO KING SALMON WILL
MOVE TO POINT HOPE TO KODIAK BY 3AM FRI...TO POINT LAY TO
ANCHORAGE BY 3PM FRI...TO PRUDHOE BAY TO GLENALLEN BY 3AM SAT AND
EAST OF THE ALCAN BORDER SAT PM. WILL SEE CLEARING ALONG AND WEST
OF THIS TROUGH AND RAPID TEMPERATURE DROP AS THE 850 MB TEMPS ARE
COLDER THAN -20C ALONG THIS TROUGH AND AS COLD AS -38C IN NW
ALASKA.

SURFACE...
A SURFACE LOW DEVELOPING NEAR TANANA WILL MOVE TO COLDFOOT AS A
996 MB LOW BY 3AM FRI...AND TO NEAR OLD CROW BY 3PM FRI. CHINOOK
WINDS EAST OF THIS LOW ARE NOW CAUSING STRONG WINDS THROUGH PASSES
AND OVER EAGLE SUMMIT. WINDS WILL DECREASE TONIGHT AS THE LOW MOVES
NORTH AND THE FLOW ALOFT DECREASES. EXPECT 1-2 INCHES OF SNOW IN
CENTRAL AND WESTERN INTERIOR WITH THIS FEATURE SPREADING TO THE
EASTERN INTERIOR FRI.

A 990 MB LOW NEAR KOTZEBUE WILL MOVE TO POINT HOPE AS A 998 MB LOW
BY 3AM FRI AND TO 100 NM NORTHWEST OF POINT HOPE AS A 998 MB LOW
BY 3PM FRI. A COLD FRONT EXTENDING SOUTHEAST FROM THIS LOW TO
MCGRATH WILL MOVE TO POINT HOPE TO BETTLES TO DENALI BY 3AM FRI...
TO JUST NORTH OF BARROW TO PRUDHOE BAY TO FAIRBANKS BY 3PM FRI AND
EAST OF THE ALCAN BORDER FRI NIGHT. LIGHT SNOW WILL SPREAD EAST
WITH THE FRONT AS WILL WEST WINDS 15-25KT. WILL SEE CLEARING WEST
OF THE FRONT AND DECREASING WINDS CAUSING A RAPID COOLING FRI NIGHT.

A LOW SOUTH OF SHEMYA WILL MOVE TO THE NORTHERN BERING SEA AS A
973 MB LOW ON SAT. THIS WILL CAUSE EASTERLY GALES AND POSSIBLE
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ALONG THE WEST COAST STARTING EARLY SAT.
EXPECT 3-6 INCHES OF SNOW ALONG MOST OF THE WEST COAST SAT-SAT
NIGHT BUT AS MUCH AS 12 INCHES ALONG SOUTH FACING SLOPES.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
GFS MOVES SHORT WAVE TROUGH NE FASTER THAN THE NAM. FAVOR THE GFS
BASED ON THE STRONG DYNAMICS NOW IN PLACE. ECMF ALSO AGREES MORE
WITH THE GFS.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ202-AKZ203-AKZ209-AKZ211-AKZ214.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ220.

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ207.

WIND CHILL WARNING FOR AKZ201-AKZ210-AKZ213.

WINTER STORM WATCH FOR AKZ211-AKZ213-AKZ214.
&&

JB FEB 12

Event by event

3 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Chukchi Sea Coast

When: February 3, 2:30 AM AKST to 7:30 PM AKST
Where: Chukchi Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: February 3, 11:30 AM AKST to 5:00 PM AKST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: February 3, 9:00 PM AKST to February 4, 8:00 AM AKST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 356545, 356134, 356135.