Name: Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, January 21 to 24, 2012
Start: 2012-01-21T10:00
End: 2012-01-24T11:00
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 AFC wrote it up.

A large strong low in the Gulf of Alaska coupled with deep cold arctic air under high pressure over the Alaska mainland resulted in strong north winds across much of southwest Alaska. High wind blew in the eastern Aleutians at Dutch Harbor where wind peaked at 83 mph. Snow showers along the Alaska Peninsula combined with the strong wind resulted in blizzard conditions across the Alaska Peninsula. The strong wind re suspended the snow across the Kuskokwim Delta resulting in blizzard conditions. The snow showers resumed and the wind increased again aver the Alaska Peninsula about one day after the initial blizzard conditions abated.

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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 21, 5:00 AM AKST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 5:00 AM AKST, 5 hours before

SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
500 AM AKST SAT JAN 21 2012

.MODEL DISCUSSION...
MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH 60 HOURS OF THE FORECAST. AFTER
THAT...THEY BEGIN TO DIVERGE SIGNIFICANTLY ON HOW THEY HANDLE A LOW
MOVING INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA FROM THE SOUTH. THE GFS IS STRONGER
AND FURTHER WEST WITH THE LOW...PUTTING A 949 MB SOUTH OF CAPE
SUCKLING TUESDAY AFTERNOON. WHEREAS THE ECMWF AT THE SAME TIME HAS A
962 MB LOW NEAR CAPE SPENCER AND A 965 MB LOW NEAR MONTAGUE ISLAND.
BY WEDNESDAY THE MODELS COME BACK INTO AGREEMENT AND SITUATE A LOW
IN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND THAT LINGERS INTO FRIDAY...THEN THE MODELS
DIVERGE AGAIN. NO REAL MODEL PREFERENCE IN THE SHORT TERM. THE ECMWF
TYPE SOLUTION IS PREFERRED AFTER 60 HOURS...MODERATED WITH HPC
GUIDANCE FOR THE EXTENDED.

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
LARGE UPPER LEVEL BLOCKING RIDGE SITUATED OVER NORTHEAST SIBERIA
WITH A CLOSED LOW OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA. A WEAK TROUGH IS
CURRENTLY OVER EASTERN ALASKA. STRONG NORTHERLY FLOW IS DEVELOPING
OVER WESTERN ALASKA BETWEEN THE SIBERIAN HIGH AND THE ALASKA TROUGH.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
THE TROUGH OVER ALASKA WILL STRENGTHEN AND MOVE SOUTHWEST TODAY
THROUGH SUNDAY. THE GULF LOW WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AND WEAKEN
TODAY...THEN MERGE WITH THE ALASKA TROUGH SUNDAY MORNING AS THAT
BECOMES THE DOMINANT LOW. THE SIBERIAN RIDGE WILL DROP SOUTH THROUGH
SUNDAY...AND THEN SOUTHWEST ON MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT.

SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA...AS THE ALASKAN LOW MOVES SOUTHWEST THIS WILL
CREATE CYCLONIC FLOW OVER THE AREA AND BRING IN MOISTURE FROM THE
SOUTHEAST. SNOW WILL SPREAD INTO COASTAL AREAS LATER TODAY AND SOME
SNOW IS POSSIBLE FOR INLAND AREAS TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. ON
MONDAY THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL WEAKEN AND BECOME LESS
CYCLONIC...AND SNOW SHOULD BE LIMITED TO COASTAL AREAS.

SOUTHWEST ALASKA AND THE BERING SEA...A SURGE OF COLD AIR IS
EXPECTED OVER THE AREA DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS IN STRONG NORTHERLY
FLOW AT ALL LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. FLOW OVER THE EASTERN BERING
SEA WILL ALSO BECOME MORE CYCLONIC TONIGHT INTO MONDAY...WITH
INCREASING SNOW SHOWERS AND WINDS OVER THE EASTERN BERING SEA AND
ALASKA PANHANDLE.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...
THE MEAN UPPER LOW WILL BE CENTERED ROUGHLY OVER SOUTHERN ALASKA
TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY OF NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL RESULT IN SLIGHTLY
BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA WITH PERIODIC
CHANCES OF SNOW...AND MUCH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES IN SOUTHWEST
ALASKA AND THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN BERING SEA.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING 131.
MARINE...GALE WARNING 121 126 127 128 130 132 150 155 160 165 170
                   171 172 176 179 180 185.
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 121 125 126 127 128 130 132 138 140
                   141 150 155 165 170 171 179 185.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

LUDWIG JAN 12

Event by event

3 blizzard, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Kuskokwim Delta

When: January 21, 10:00 AM AKST to January 23, 1:40 AM AKST
Where: Kuskokwim Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Alaska Peninsula

When: January 21, 10:50 PM AKST to January 22, 11:00 PM AKST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

High Wind, Eastern Aleutians

When: January 22, 2:00 PM AKST to 4:00 PM AKST
Where: Eastern Aleutians forecast zone
Measured: 72 kt (83 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, Alaska Peninsula

When: January 24, 4:30 AM AKST to 11:00 AM AKST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

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.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, 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: 354755, 354754, 354756, 354757.