Alaska, 2012

Extreme Cold in Alaska, January 27 to 28, 2012

January 27 to 28, 2012 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Temperatures from 29 to 40 below zero at Atqasuk combined with a west wind of 15 to 20 mph to produce wind chills as low as 70 below at the Atqasuk AWSS. Wind chills of 60 below zero or lower were observed from approximately 1820AKST on the 27th through 1200AKST on the 28th.

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.

Temperatures from 29 to 40 below zero at Atqasuk combined with a west wind of 15 to 20 mph to produce wind chills as low as 70 below at the Atqasuk AWSS. Wind chills of 60 below zero or lower were observed from approximately 1820AKST on the 27th through 1200AKST on the 28th.

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 27, 3:17 PM AKST, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 27, 3:17 PM AKST, 3 hours 3 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
317 PM AKST FRI JAN 27 2012

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS IN POOR AGREEMENT AT INITIALIZATION. THE NAM AND THE
EUROPEAN MODELS ARE MORE IN SYNCH THAN THE GFS. THE BIG ISSUE IS
WINDS ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST. WENT AHEAD AND ISSUES A WIND CHILL
WARNING FOR ARCTIC ZONES 201 AND 202 ON THE BELIEF THAT THE LOW
NEAR BANKS ISLAND WILL MOVE SOUTH TO BE ABOUT 100 NM NORTH OF
WAINWRIGHT BY SUNDAY. THIS WILL INCORPORATE THE WINDS INTO THE
COLD TEMPERATURES AND PRODUCE WIND CHILLS TO 75 BELOW IN MANY
AREAS FROM ZONES 201 THROUGH 204.

UPPER LEVEL LOW SHOULD MIGRATE SOMEWHERE TO BETWEEN WAINWRIGHT AND
WRANGEL ISLAND BY THE FIRST PART OF THE WEEK. THIS WILL KEEP THE
COLDEST TEMPERATURES IN PLACE OVER NORTHERN ALASKA AND IN
PARTICULAR OVER THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF THE STATE THROUGH AT
LEAST THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. BUT THE GFS IS SUGGESTING THAT THE
TEMPERATURES MAY START WARMING TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK AS
THE GFS IS REPRESENTING A RIDGE TO BEGIN BUILDING IN FROM THE
SOUTHEAST. WHILE THE ECMWF IS HOLDING THE RIDGE TO THE EAST SO
THAT THE TEMPERATURES STAY COLD.

NO SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION OVER NORTHERN ALASKA FOR THE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ226.

WIND CHILL WARNING FOR AKZ201-AKZ202-AKZ203-AKZ204.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ230-PKZ235.
&&

CF JAN 12

Event by event

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

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Arctic Coast

When
January 27, 6:20 PM AKST to January 28, 12:00 PM AKST
Where
Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by
AWSS

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

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: 355888.