Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lower Yukon Valley
- When
- January 28, 9:30 AM AKST to 1:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Lower Yukon Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWSS
Extreme Cold in Alaska, January 28, 2012
Temperatures of 30 to 35 below zero combined with a north wind of 15 to 20 mph to produce wind chills as low as 63 below at the Holy Cross AWSS. Wind chills of 60 below or lower were observed from approximately 0930AKST through 1300AKST 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 of 30 to 35 below zero combined with a north wind of 15 to 20 mph to produce wind chills as low as 63 below at the Holy Cross AWSS. Wind chills of 60 below or lower were observed from approximately 0930AKST through 1300AKST 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 28, 6:00 AM AKST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 28, 6:00 AM AKST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 600 AM AKST SAT JAN 28 2012 .DISCUSSION... UPPER AIR...MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH HAVING A 480 DM LOW A COUPLE HUNDRED MILES NORTH OF BARROW SUNDAY AFTERNOON...THEN MOVING THE LOW A COUPLE HUNDRED MILES WEST BY MONDAY EVENING. MODELS SHOW A RIDGE DEVELOPING FROM THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS WEST TO THE PRIBILOFS TODAY...THEN MOVING A LITTLE NORTH TONIGHT. THE RIDGE WILL KEEP ALEUTIAN SURFACE LOWS ON AN EASTWARD TRACK TO THE SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA. SURFACE...LOW PRESSURE MOVING SOUTH OVER THE CHUKCHI SEA WILL BE BETWEEN WRANGEL ISLAND AND THE NORTHWEST COAST BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. MODELS ARE IN DISAGREEMENT WITH THE DETAILS...THOUGH THE ECMWF AND NAM ARE MORE IN ALIGNMENT WITH HAVING THE LOW CLOSER TO THE NORTHWEST COAST THAN THE GFS. BY MONDAY AFTERNOON MODELS WEAKEN THE LOW TO AROUND 996 MB OFF THE NORTHWEST COAST. NORTH SLOPE...WIND CHILLS WILL INCREASINGLY BECOME AN ISSUE FROM BARROW WEST AS LOW PRESSURE TRACKS SOUTH OVER THE CHUKCHI SEA TODAY. AT THE SAME TIME WINDS WILL BE DIMINISHING OVER THE BEAUFORT SEA COAST ZONES. ONLY FLURRIES ARE EXPECTED. WEST COAST...THE WEST COAST WILL REMAIN IN A COLD PATTERN THROUGH AT LEAST MID WEEK. LOW PRESSURE OVER THE ALEUTIANS AND HIGH PRESSURE JUTTING EAST FROM SIBERIA WILL PRODUCE A PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE SOUTHWEST ZONES WITH RESULTING WIND CHILL ADVISORIES TODAY AND TONIGHT. SNOW ASSOCIATED WITH THE ALEUTIAN LOWS WILL LIKELY BE BLOCKED FROM FROM THE WEST COAST BY AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER BRISTOL BAY AND THE PRIBILOFS. INTERIOR...STRONG LOW LEVEL INVERSIONS HAVE DEVELOPED WITH ICE FOG FORMING IN MANY LOCATIONS. FAIRBANKS IS UNDER A DENSE FOG ADVISORY THIS MORNING. THERE WILL BE A LITTLE WARMING OVER THE SOUTHERN INTERIOR EARLY NEXT WEEK. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS MAY DEVELOP OVER THE CENTRAL INTERIOR WEDNESDAY AS SURFACE TROUGH DEVELOPS OVER THE INTERIOR. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ211-AKZ213-AKZ214. DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR AKZ222. WIND CHILL WARNING FOR AKZ201-AKZ202-AKZ203-AKZ204. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ225-PKZ230-PKZ235. && DA JAN 12
Event by event
1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Avalanche in Utah, January 28, 2012
- High Wind in Montana, January 28 to 29, 2012
- High Surf in Hawaii, January 28 to 29, 2012
- High Wind in Wyoming, January 28 to 29, 2012
- Lake-Effect Snow and Winter Weather in Michigan, January 28 to 29, 2012
- Extreme Cold in Alaska, January 28 to 30, 2012
- High Wind in Wyoming, January 28 to 29, 2012
- Lake-Effect Snow in Michigan, January 28 to 29, 2012
- Dense Smoke in Florida, January 28 to 29, 2012
- Frost and Freeze in Oregon, January 28, 2012
- High Wind in Wyoming, January 28, 2012
- Winter Weather in Washington, January 28 to 29, 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: 355889.