Blizzard in Alaska, March 1 to 2, 2012

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, March 1 to 2, 2012
Start: 2012-03-01T00:00
End: 2012-03-02T05:00
Location: Alaska

March 1 to 2, 2012 · NWS AFC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A strong storm moved across the eastern Aleutians into the eastern Bering Sea February 29th and March 1st. The storm produced snow and strong wind resulting in blizzard conditions.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 strong storm moved across the eastern Aleutians into the eastern Bering Sea February 29th and March 1st. The storm produced snow and strong wind resulting in blizzard conditions. This resulted in drifts of 4 to 5 feet in Saint Paul. The Blizzard conditions spread to the Kuskokwim Delta coast the morning of March first and persisted into the early morning of March second.

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 Feb 29, 5:00 PM AKST, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 29, 5:00 PM AKST, 7 hours before

SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
500 PM AKST WED FEB 29 2012

.MODEL DISCUSSION...
MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND CONSISTENT WITH THE PREVIOUS RUN.

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
THE UPPER LOW WHICH SAT ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST ALASKA AND THE KENAI
PENINSULA YESTERDAY HAS MOVED OVER ANCHORAGE AND PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND
THIS AFTERNOON. THE TROUGH PRODUCED AREAS OF SNOW OVER ANCHORAGE AND
THE KENAI PENINSULA. ANOTHER UPPER LOW HAS DEVELOPED OVER THE CENTRAL
ALEUTIANS. AN UPPER RIDGE SITS OVER THE ALASKA PENINSULA AND THE
EASTERN BERING AND IS MOVING EAST.

A SURFACE TROUGH REMAIN OVER SOUTHEAST ALASKA AND THE NORTHERN GULF
OF ALASKA. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS PERSISTED AROUND PRINCE WILLIAM
TODAY. A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM NEAR THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS IS
BEGINNING TO TURN EAST.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
THE TROUGH OVER SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA WILL WEAKEN AS IT MOVES INTO THE
SOUTHEAST ALASKA TONIGHT. THE UPPER RIDGE ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF THE
STATE WILL MOVE INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA TONIGHT AND INTO SOUTHEAST
ALASKA AND BRITISH COLUMBIA THURSDAY AFTERNOON. THE UPPER LOW OVER
THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE EAST AND WEAKEN INTO A TROUGH OVER
THE NORTHERN GULF FRIDAY.

.SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...THE AREAS OF SNOW AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL MOVE
EAST ACROSS ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT. A LOW NEAR THE CENTRAL
ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE EAST INTO THE GULF THURSDAY NIGHT. A STRONG
WEATHER FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO
THE NORTHERN GULF THURSDAY AND DISSIPATE ALONG THE CENTRAL GULF COAST
THURSDAY NIGHT. SNOW WILL MOVE INTO KODIAK ISLAND TONIGHT THEN SPREAD
INTO THE CENTRAL GULF COAST, SOUTHERN KENAI PENINSULA AND WESTERN
SUSITNA VALLEY THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. THE SNOW WILL BECOME SNOW
SHOWERS MAINLY ALONG THE CENTRAL GULF COAST FRIDAY. GUSTY WINDS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT WILL CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW ALONG THE
CENTRAL GULF COAST AND KENAI PENINSULA THURSDAY.

.SOUTHWEST ALASKA...THE LOW OVER THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE TO
NEAR CHIGNIK. A WEATHER FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE SOUTHWEST GULF WED
NIGHT THEN SWING INTO THE NORTHERN GULF THU THEN WILL MOVE INTO THE
GULF OF ALASKA FRIDAY. SNOW WILL MOVE INTO THE ALASKA PENINSULA THIS
EVENING THEN SPREAD INTO BRISTOL BAY TONIGHT AND THURSDAY WEATHER
FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE SOUTHWEST GULF WED NIGHT THEN SWING INTO THE
NORTHERN GULF THURSDAY. THE SNOW WILL CHANGE TO SNOW SHOWERS LATE
THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY.

.BERING SEA AND ALEUTIANS...THE LOW NEAR THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS WILL
MOVE EAST ALONG THE CHAIN INTO THE ALASKA PENINSULA THURSDAY THEN
MOVE INTO THE GULF FRIDAY. SNOW OVER THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN
ALEUTIANS WILL SPREAD TO THE PRIBILOFS TONIGHT THEN BECOME SNOW
SHOWERS FROM THE WEST THURSDAY. GALE FORCE WINDS OVER THE CENTRAL AND
EASTERN ALEUTIANS WILL DIMINISH LATE TONIGHT. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS
WILL DEVELOP OVER THE PRIBILOFS TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY
MORNING.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...

THE LOW IN THE NORTHERN GULF WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY AND SLOWLY
WEAKEN THROUGH THE WEEKEND. CLOUDS AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL PERSIST OVER
SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA THROUGH SUNDAY. NORTHERLY FLOW OVER WESTERN
ALASKA WILL PRODUCE SOME CLEARING OVER SOUTHWEST ALASKA THROUGH THE
WEEKEND.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING FOR THE  PRIBILOFS.
MARINE...STORM 120 170 172
         GALE 130 132 150 155 175 179
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

NM FEB 12

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Pribilof Islands

When: March 1, 12:00 AM AKST to 5:00 PM AKST
Where: Pribilof Islands forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard, Kuskokwim Delta

When: March 1, 7:00 AM AKST to March 2, 5:00 AM AKST
Where: Kuskokwim Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

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

Every storm in Alaska in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, March 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: 359020, 359043.