Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- January 16, 2:00 AM AKST to January 18, 9:00 AM AKST
- Where
- Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, January 16 to 18, 2012
A 982 mb low near Victoria Island in Canada combined with a very strong 1060 mb high along the northwest coast of Alaska to produce strong west winds at Barter Island from the early morning hours on the 16th through the morning hours on the 18th. A west wind of 40 to 50 mph with frequent gusts to 60 mph produced blizzard conditions at Barter Island from approximately 0200AKST on the 16th through…
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 982 mb low near Victoria Island in Canada combined with a very strong 1060 mb high along the northwest coast of Alaska to produce strong west winds at Barter Island from the early morning hours on the 16th through the morning hours on the 18th. A west wind of 40 to 50 mph with frequent gusts to 60 mph produced blizzard conditions at Barter Island from approximately 0200AKST on the 16th through 1100AKST on the 18th. There was a peak wind gust to 58 kt (67 mph) at the Barter Island AWOS. The visibility sensor was inoperable during the event, so the beginning and ending times of the event were estimated based on the wind speed.
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 15, 1:18 PM AKST, 12 hours 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 15, 1:18 PM AKST, 12 hours 42 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 118 PM AKST SUN JAN 15 2012 .DISCUSSION... MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH 60 HOURS. HIGH ALOFT OVER BERING SEA AND FAR EASTERN RUSSIA WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEK. SHORT WAVE TROUGH EMBEDDED IN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS PUSHING THROUGH WEST COAST THIS AFTERNOON. IN ITS WAKE THERE WILL BE A PLETHORA OF STRATUS LEFT BEHIND THE THE SHORT WAVE. SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS THAT THERE IS EXTENSIVE STRATUS BEHIND THE TROUGH. AS THIS TROUGH PUSHES EASTWARD THE CLOUDS WILL SPREAD EASTWARD AND MODERATE TEMPERATURES A LITTLE WITH SOME ACCOMPANYING FLURRIES. THIS WILL ONLY BE TEMPORARY AS THE CLOUDS WILL CLEAR BACK OUT AND THE TEMPERATURES WILL DROP ONCE MORE OVER THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND WITH THE COLDEST AIR FILTERING BACK IN BY NEXT WEEKEND. BOTH THE GFS AND THE EUROPEAN MODELS SHOW THE COLDER AIR RETURNING BY THE END OF THE WEEK TOWARDS THE WEEKEND BUT FROM 2 DIFFERENT SOURCES BUT EITHER WAY....IT IS COLDER AIR. AS THE HIGH CONTINUES TO BUILD OVER THE NORTHWEST ARCTIC COAST AND THE COLD LOW MOVES OUT OF THE HIGH ARCTIC SOUTHWARD TOWARD THE NORTH CANADIAN COAST. THIS WILL TIGHTEN THE GRADIENT OVER THE EASTERN ARCTIC COAST BEGINNING LATER THIS EVENING. LITTLE TO SNOWFALL OVER MOST OF NORTHERN ALASKA THROUGH THE WEEK. WINDS WILL BE FAIRLY LIGHT FOR THE MOST PART OVER NORTHERN ALASKA WITH THEN EXCEPTION OF OF THE EASTERN ARCTIC COAST AND PLAIN THROUGH THE MIDDLE PART OF THE WEEK. NORTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE BERING SEA AND BERING STRAIT COAST ON TUE AND THEN CONTINUE ESSENTIALLY THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ209. DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR AKZ222. BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ204. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ245. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ240-PKZ245. && CF JAN 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
- Strong Wind in Texas, January 16, 2012
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, January 16 to 17, 2012
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Washington, January 16 to 20, 2012
- Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, January 16 to 17, 2012
- Heavy Snow in Washington, January 16 to 18, 2012
- Flash Flooding and Heavy Rain in Hawaii, January 16 to 17, 2012
- Winter Weather in New Jersey, January 16 to 17, 2012
- Heavy Snow in New Mexico, January 16, 2012
- Heavy Snow in Washington, January 16 to 17, 2012
- Frost and Freeze in California, January 16 to 19, 2012
- Frost and Freeze in Florida, January 16, 2012
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, January 16 to 19, 2012
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 354434.