Extreme Cold in Alaska, January 12 to 13, 2012

Name: Extreme Cold in Alaska, January 12 to 13, 2012
Start: 2012-01-12T10:00
End: 2012-01-13T09:00
Location: Alaska

January 12 to 13, 2012 · NWS AFG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A cold air mass combined with a southwest wind of 15 to 25 mph to produce wind chills of 60 below zero or lower along parts of the Central Beaufort Sea Coast and in parts of the Northwest Brooks Range. Zone 203: Temperatures of 30 to 35 below zero combined with a southwest wind of 15 to 25 mph to produce wind chills as low as 67 below at Nuiqsut and to 62 below at Deadhorse.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 203: Temperatures of 30 to 35 below zero combined with a southwest wind of 15 to 25 mph to produce wind chills as low as 67 below at Nuiqsut and to 62 below at Deadhorse. Wind chills of 60 below or lower were observed from approximately 1800AKST on the 12th through 0900AKST on the 13th.

Zone 205: Temperatures around 35 below zero at Ikpikpuk combined with a southwest wind of 15 to 20 mph to produce wind chills as low as 64 below. Wind chills of 60 below or lower were observed from approximately 1000AKST through 1600AKST on the 12th.

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 Jan 12, 5:58 AM AKST, 4 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 5:58 AM AKST, 4 hours 2 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
558 AM AKST THU JAN 12 2012

.DISCUSSION...
CURRENT MODELS AND GFS ENSEMBLE MEAN IN GOOD AGREEMENT
ON THE FORECAST OF THE LARGE SCALE PATTERN OUT THROUGH
MON. SNOW OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR GRADUALLY ENDING
FROM THE WEST THROUGH FRI EVE...TO BE FOLLOWED BY
CLEARING SKIES AND SHARPLY COLDER TEMPS.

UPPER TROUGH OVER THE WRN INTERIOR MOVING TO THE ERN
INTERIOR BY FRI AFTERNOON...THEN WEAKENING AND EXITING
E INTO CANADA. COLD SHORT WAVE DROPPING SEWD OUT OF
THE HIGH ARCTIC WILL BRING A SURGE OF COLD AIR ACROSS
THE NERN PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA...BY SUN THE COLD
CORE WILL HAVE MOVED SE INTO CANADA. N TO NW FLOW ALOFT
WILL KEEP MODERATELY COLD AIR OVER THE CNTRL/ERN PARTS
OF THE FORECAST AREA.

OVER THE BERING SEA...HIGH PRESSURE BLDG ALOFT AND AT THE
SFC...STRONG BLOCKING HIGH BECOMING ESTABLISHED OVER THE NW
BERING BY MON...500 MB HEIGHTS APPROACHING 570 DAM. STRONG
SFC HIGH WILL BUILD TO AROUND 1055 MB. THIS BLOCK WILL KEEP
STORM ACTIVITY DISPLACED FAR TO THE WEST OF THE BERING SEA.

ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST...THE SHORT WAVE ALOFT AND ITS
ASSOCIATED SFC TROUGH DROPPING SOUTHEAST OUT OF THE ARCTIC
WILL BRING WIND SPEEDS UP. W TO SW GALES LIKELY DVLPG OVER
THE ERN ARCTIC CST AND MARINE AREAS BY FRI EVE...GOOD POTENTIAL
FOR BLIZZARD IN AKZ203-AKZ204. BRISK W WINDS DVLPG OVER THE
REMAINDER OF THE ARCTIC COAST FRI.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ201-AKZ202-AKZ203-AKZ204-AKZ206-
AKZ210-AKZ214.

WIND CHILL WARNING FOR AKZ203-AKZ205.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ225-AKZ226.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ245.
&&

RF JAN 12

Event by event

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

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W

When: January 12, 10:00 AM AKST to 4:00 PM AKST
Where: N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W forecast zone
Reported by: River/Stream Gage

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: January 12, 6:00 PM AKST to January 13, 9:00 AM AKST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

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

Every storm in Alaska in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, January 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: 353804, 353803.