Blizzard in Alaska, February 8, 2012

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, February 8, 2012
Start: 2012-02-08T13:00
End: 2012-02-08T18:00
Location: Alaska

February 8, 2012 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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.

There was a short period of blizzard conditions at Gambell and Wales during the afternoon hours on the 8th. The strong wind that produced the blizzard conditions was caused by a strong pressure difference between a 965 mb low south of the Alaska Peninsula and a 1025 mb high across eastern Russia. At Gambell, the visibility was reduced to one quarter of a mile or less much of the time from approximately 1500AKST through 1800AKST. There was a peak wind gust to 40 kt (46 mph) at the Gambell AWOS. At Wales, the public reported that blizzard conditions were occurring at Wales during the early afternoon. The blizzard conditions likely occurred at times from approximately 1300AKST through 1600AKST.

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 8, 3:53 AM AKST, 9 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 8, 3:53 AM AKST, 9 hours 7 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
353 AM AKST WED FEB 8 2012

.DISCUSSION...
THE MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.
A LOW ALOFT NEAR NORTHWAY THIS MORNING WILL MOVE INTO THE
INTERIOR THIS AFTERNOON...THEN TO NORTHWEST ALASKA BY EARLY
THURSDAY MORNING. HIGH PRESSURE IN NORTHEAST ALASKA WILL MOVE
TO THE EAST SLOWLY AS THE INTERIOR LOW PLOWS NORTHWESTWARD.

AT THE SURFACE...A 1008 MB LOW OVER THE CHUKCHI SEA WILL MOVE
NORTH AND DISSIPATE BY THIS AFTERNOON. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE
OVER THE WESTERN BERING SEA WILL MOVE WEST AS A 964 MB LOW MOVES
NORTHWEST OUT OF THE GULF OF ALASKA AND WEAKENS TO 970 MB NEAR
COLD BAY EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

THE INTERIOR WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN CLOUDS THIS AFTERNOON AS THE
UPPER LOW MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. EXPECT WIDELY SCATTERED FLURRIES
BUT NO ACCUMULATION OF SNOW WITH THIS SYSTEM. TEMPERATURES WILL
CONTINUE A LITTLE ABOVE AVERAGE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. WINDS WILL BE
STRONG BUT BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS IN ALASKA RANGE PASSES TODAY AND
TONIGHT.

THE ARCTIC COAST WILL SEE GENERALLY LIGHT TO MODERATE WINDS EXCEPT
FOR THE NORTHEAST PORTION WHERE LOCALLY GUSTY CONDITIONS WILL
PERSIST THROUGH THE MORNING BEFORE WEAKENING. LOW STRATUS
CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE LATER THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON AS A
SURFACE LOW DEVELOPS NEAR DEADHORSE CAUSING WINDS TO SHIFT FROM
AN OFFSHORE TO AN ONSHORE FLOW. NO PRECIPITATION EXPECTED TODAY
THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

THE WEST COAST WILL BE DRY TODAY EXCEPT FOR ST LAWRENCE ISLAND
WHERE MORNING SNOW WILL TAPER OFF TO FLURRIES IN THE AFTERNOON.
SNOW ACCUMULATION THERE SHOULD BE LESS THAN ONE INCH.
PRECIPITATION WILL MOVE BACK INTO THE SOUTHWESTERN PORTIONS OF THE
CWA EARLY THURSDAY MORNING...SPREADING NORTHWARD TO THE NOME AREA
BEFORE NOON. PRECIPITATION EXPECTED TO BE IN THE FORM OF SNOW BUT
POSSIBLE TO HAVE AREAS OF FREEZING RAIN.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230-PKZ245.
&&

RL FEB 12

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When: February 8, 1:00 PM AKST to 6:00 PM AKST
Where: St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Reported by: Public

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

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: 356552.