Name: Blizzard in Alaska, January 25 to 26, 2012
Start: 2012-01-25T22:55
End: 2012-01-26T06:55
Location: Alaska

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 AFC wrote it up.

A low in Prince William Sound produced gusty west wind and snow in Whittier resulting in blizzard conditions.

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 25, 2:00 PM AKST, 8 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 25, 2:00 PM AKST, 8 hours 55 minutes before

SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
200 PM AKST WED JAN 25 2012

.MODEL DISCUSSION...MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH 60 HRS(FRI
AFTERNOON). THE GFS/ECMWF CONTINUE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH
THE REMAINDER OF THE SHORT TERM...THOUGH THE NAM DIVERGES.

.UPPER LEVELS...
A BROAD UPPER LOW OVER THE SOUTHCENTRAL MAINLAND WEAKENS AS IT MOVES
EAST INTO CANADA FRI. A WEAK SHORT WAVE TRAILS THIS CENTER ON FRI
BEFORE THE FLOW BECOMES WESTERLY OVER THE SOUTHERN MAINLAND ON SAT. A
RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE EASTERN BERING SEA/BRISTOL BAY SAT MORNING AS A
LOW COMPLEX MOVES TO THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
.SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...A WEAKENING LOW PRESSURE CENTER NEAR
HINCHINBROOK ENTRANCE THIS AFTERNOON WILL MOVE INTO PRINCE WILLIAM
SOUND TONIGHT AND WEAKEN. IT WILL THEN DRIFT SOUTH OF PRINCE WILLIAM
SOUND THU NIGHT AND CONTINUE TO WEAKEN. STRONG NW WINDS ACROSS THE
WESTERN GULF AND SOUTHERN COOK INLET TODAY WILL DIMINISH OVERNIGHT
WITH WEAKENING PRESSURE GRADIENTS. PERIODS OF SNOW/SNOW SHOWERS
ACROSS THE GULF AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHCENTRAL WILL CONTINUE THRU THU.
CONDITIONS WILL BECOME MORE SHOWERY THU NIGHT AND FRI AS THE SURFACE
LOW DROPS SOUTH AND A UPPER SHORT WAVE MOVES THROUGH THE REGION.

.SOUTHWEST ALASKA...
COLD TEMPS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH FRI. PRESSURE
GRADIENTS HAVE RELAXED OVER MOST AREAS SO WIDE SPREAD WIND CHILL
CONDITIONS ARE NO LONGER EXPECTED. FOG AND STRATUS MAY BECOME MORE OF
A CONCERN TONIGHT THROUGH THU NIGHT AS WEAK RIDGING MOVES OVER THE
REGION.

.ALEUTIANS/BERING SEA...
A HIGH CENTER OVER EASTERN RUSSIA WILL HANG AROUND THROUGH THU...THEN
WEAKEN AND DRIFT NORTH. A STRONG LOW PRESSURE COMPLEX OVER THE NORTH
PACIFIC MOVES NORTH THU NIGHT AND FRI AND INCREASES PRESSURE
GRADIENTS ACROSS THE ALEUTIANS AND SOUTHERN BERING SEA. STRONG
EASTERLY WINDS ARE EXPECTED WITH THE INTENSIFYING PRESSURE GRADIENTS.
MOISTURE AHEAD OF ADVANCING FRONT MOVES TO THE ALEUTIANS FRI AND
BRINGS A HIGH PROBABILITY OF SNOW AS TEMPS AND THICKNESS VALUES WILL
REMAIN LOW. THAT SAID...BLIZZARD CONDITIONS MAY BE A CONCERN.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...
THE ALASKAN UPPER LOW WILL DRIFT WESTWARD INTO THE BERING SEA LATER
IN THE WEEK THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THERE IS A FAIR AMOUNT OF
UNCERTAINTY DURING THE EXTENDED FORECAST PERIOD...HOWEVER A MORE
ACTIVE PATTERN LOOKS TO BE IN STORE WITH THE ZONAL FLOW ALOFT SETTING
UP ACROSS SOUTHERN AK.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE.
MARINE...STORM WARNING 130 132 352.
         GALE WARNING 120 121 127 129 138 140 150 175 176.
FIRE WEATHER...

RMC JAN 12

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns

When: January 25, 10:55 PM AKST to January 26, 6:55 AM AKST
Where: Wrn P.W. Snd & Kenai Mtns forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

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

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: 355027.