Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley
- When
- January 8, 7:30 PM AKST to January 9, 1:30 PM AKST
- Where
- Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
Extreme Cold in Alaska, January 8 to 9, 2012
Temperatures of around 35 below zero combined with an east wind of 15 to 20 mph to produce wind chills as low as 68 below at Kotzebue. The wind chills were 60 below or lower at Kotzebue from approximately 1930AKST on the 8th through 1200AKST on the 9th.
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 around 35 below zero combined with an east wind of 15 to 20 mph to produce wind chills as low as 68 below at Kotzebue. The wind chills were 60 below or lower at Kotzebue from approximately 1930AKST on the 8th through 1200AKST on the 9th. Wind chills as low as 66 below were observed at Selawick, and as low as 65 below at Noorvik during the morning and early afternoon hours on the 9th.
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 8, 4:25 PM AKST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 8, 4:25 PM AKST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 425 PM AKST SUN JAN 8 2012 .DISCUSSION... THE NAM AND GFS COMPUTER WEATHER FORECAST MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH TUESDAY. BOTH MODELS FORECAST A LARGE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE ALOFT TO HOLD OVER THE BERING SEA THROUGH TUESDAY. THE GFS FORECASTS A SEPARATE LOW ALOFT ABOUT 500 MILES SOUTH OF ATTU TO MOVE EASTWARD TONIGHT...AND THEN TO MOVE NORTHEASTWARD MONDAY AND TUESDAY. THE NAM MODEL FORECAST INCORRECTLY MISSES THIS FEATURE. BOTH MODELS FORECAST STRONG WESTERLY WINDS ALOFT OVER THE SOUTHERN BERING SEA AND THE SOUTHERN MAINLAND OF ALASKA TO CONTINUE TONIGHT. AS STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT BUILDS NORTHWARD OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA MONDAY...THEN OVER SOUTHEAST ALASKA ON TUESDAY...MODERATE SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS ALOFT WILL DEVELOP OVER ALL OF NORTHERN ALASKA. THIS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY GRADUALLY WEAKENING SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT WEDNESDAY. FROM THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...AS THE TROUGH ALOFT MOVES EASTWARD INTO THE YUKON...MODERATE NORTH WINDS ALOFT WILL DEVELOP OVER NORTHERN ALASKA. THE ORIGIN OF THESE NORTH WINDS ALOFT WILL BE IN THE VERY HIGH ARCTIC. TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL BE QUITE COLD...EXCEPT FOR A BRIEF REMISSION FROM TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WHEN SOUTHWEST WINDS ALOFT BRING IN MORE MODERATE TEMPERATURES TO THE INTERIOR. ON THURSDAY THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY / JANUARY 12 THROUGH JANUARY 17 /...NORTH WINDS ALOFT WILL CONTINUE AN INFLUX OF COLD ARCTIC AIR OVER THE REALM. IN THIS PATTERN OF WIND FLOW ALOFT...THE MILDEST TEMPERATURES ALOFT AND AT THE SURFACE WILL BE OVER SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND AND THE CHUKCHI SEA. THIS AFTERNOONS POLAR ORBITING SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS THE CLOUDS THAT COVERED THE EASTERN AND CENTRAL INTERIOR ARE MOVING EASTWARD. CLEAR SKIES AND EXTENSIVE AREAS OF TEMPERATURES IN THE 40S BELOW ARE NOW EXPANDING FROM THE WEST INTO THE CENTRAL INTERIOR. EASTERN INTERIOR HIGHLANDS WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE BRISK SOUTHWEST WINDS...POOR VISIBILITY IN BLOWING SNOW...AND WIND CHILLS TO 55 BELOW TONIGHT AND MONDAY. A COUPLE OF INCHES MORE SNOW IS EXPECTED TONIGHT OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR DURING THE NEXT 18 HOURS. WHEN SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT PREVAILS OVER ALL OF THE REALM ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY...THE WESTERN MAINLAND WILL BECOME CLOUDY AND HAVE SOME LIGHT SNOW. THE ARCTIC ORIGIN OF THE INBOUND FLOW STARTING ON WEDNESDAY WILL RESULT IN LITTLE SNOWFALL FROM THIS THURSDAY INTO NEXT WEEK. A MODERATE NORTH PACIFIC LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM HEADED TOWARD THE ALASKA PENINSULA WILL BRING INCREASING NORTH WINDS TO THE BERING SEA COAST AND THE WESTERN INTERIOR STARTING ON TUESDAY. OVERALL,,.ASIDE FROM THE BRIEF RISE IN INTERIOR TEMPERATURES TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...NORTHERN ALASKA WILL HAVE CONTINUED COLD WEATHER ALL WEEK THIS WEEK AND MOST OF NEXT WEEK. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ201-AKZ203-AKZ205-AKZ207-AKZ212- AKZ213-AKZ214. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ220. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ225-PKZ230. && TF 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
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, January 8, 2012
- Heavy Snow in New Mexico, January 8 to 9, 2012
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Alabama, January 8, 2012
- Wildfire in Florida, January 8 to 10, 2012
- Heavy Snow in Arizona, January 8, 2012
- High Wind in Montana, January 8, 2012
- Dust Storm in California, January 8, 2012
- Heavy Snow in New Mexico, January 8 to 9, 2012
- Extreme Cold in Alaska, January 8 to 9, 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: 353433.