Extreme Cold in Alaska, March 21 to 23, 2012

Name: Extreme Cold in Alaska, March 21 to 23, 2012
Start: 2012-03-21T20:30
End: 2012-03-23T22:00
Location: Alaska

March 21 to 23, 2012 · NWS AFG · 4 events in 2 counties and zones

There were two periods when the wind chill at Point Lay was 60 below zero or colder. The first period occurred from 2030AKST on the 21st through 1130AKST on the 22nd.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

There were two periods when the wind chill at Point Lay was 60 below zero or colder. The first period occurred from 2030AKST on the 21st through 1130AKST on the 22nd. Temperatures of 29 to 33 below combined with a northeast wind of 15 to 23 mph to produce wind chills as low as 65 below. The wind chills then moderated above 60 below during the afternoon on the 22nd. A second period of wind chills of 60 below zero or colder occurred from 2030AKST on the 22nd through 2200AKST on the 23rd. Temperatures of 25 to 29 below zero combined with a northeast wind of 20 to 35 mph to produce wind chills as low as 65 below zero. Based on the observations at Point Lay, it is likely that similar conditions were observed along the coastal plain in zone 205.

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 Mar 21, 11:48 AM AKST, 8 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 21, 11:48 AM AKST, 8 hours 42 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
1248 PM AKDT WED MAR 21 2012

.DISCUSSION...
COLD LOW PRESSURE ALOFT OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALASKA WILL
SLOWLY WEAKEN AS IT MOVES EAST INTO WESTERN CANADA THROUGH THE
WEEKEND. A HIGH AMPLITUDE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE OVER EASTERN
SIBERIA WILL SPLIT AS IT MOVES OVER WESTERN ALASKA THROUGH THE
WEEKEND. THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL MOVE
EAST INTO THE NORTHERN GULF OF ALASKA WHILE THE NORTHERN PORTION
OF THE RIDGE BECOMES A CUTOFF HIGH PRESSURE AND MOVES OVER THE THE
CHUKCHI SEA BY SATURDAY MORNING.

THE PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE BROOKS RANGE HAS DIMINISHED WHERE
WIND CHILL ADVISORIES ARE NO LONGER WARRANTED FOR ZONES 206 AND
217 HOWEVER WINDS IN ZONES 207 AND 213 REMAIN STRONG ENOUGH
COMBINED WITH WITH LOW TEMPERATURES FOR THE WIND CHILL ADVISORIES
TO BE EXPENDED THROUGH TOMORROW MORNING.

SYNOPTIC SCALE MODELS ARE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT WITH
SIGNIFICANT HEIGHT RISES FOR THE INTERIOR AND BERING SEA COAST OF
ALASKA THROUGH THE WEEKEND. AS THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE MOVES
EASTWARD OVER ALASKA HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL INCREASE TO NEAR
NORMAL ACROSS THE INTERIOR. LIMITED CLOUD COVER WILL ALLOW FOR
NIGHT TIME TEMPERATURES TO REMAIN CHILLY AS NOCTURNAL INVERSIONS
SET UP ACROSS THE INTERIOR IN WIND SHELTERED LOCATIONS. WINDS
WILL INCREASE ALONG AND THROUGH THE ALASKA RANGE AND THE ALASKA
RANGE PASSES WITH MODERATE GAP FLOWS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY
FRIDAY. MILD CHINOOK CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
INTERIOR THIS WEEKEND.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ207-AKZ213.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210.
&&

CC MAR 12

Event by event

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

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Arctic Coast

When: March 21, 8:30 PM AKST to March 22, 11:30 AM AKST
Where: Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W

When: March 21, 8:30 PM AKST to March 22, 11:30 AM AKST
Where: N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Arctic Coast

When: March 22, 8:30 PM AKST to March 23, 10:00 PM AKST
Where: Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W

When: March 22, 8:30 PM AKST to March 23, 10:00 PM AKST
Where: N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

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

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: 362048, 362325, 362049, 362327.