Blizzard, Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills
- When
- March 5, 6:00 AM AKST to 2:30 PM AKST
- Where
- Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, March 5, 2012
Blizzard conditions were observed at Unalakleet from approximately 0830AKST through 1430AKST on the 5th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow.
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.
Blizzard conditions were observed at Unalakleet from approximately 0830AKST through 1430AKST on the 5th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust t0 42 kt (48 mph) at the Unalakleet AWOS. Blizzard conditions were also intermittently observed at Saint Michael from approximately 0600AKST through 1100AKST on the 5th. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less at times in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust to 35 kt (40 mph) at the Saint Michael AWOS.
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 5, 5:51 AM AKST, 9 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 5, 5:51 AM AKST, 9 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 551 AM AKST MON MAR 5 2012 .DISCUSSION... THE GFS AND NAM COMPUTER WEATHER FORECAST MODELS FORECAST A BERING SEA WEATHER FRONT TO MOVE ON SHORE OVER THE BERING SEA COAST THIS MORNING...AND TO REACH THE CENTRAL INTERIOR TONIGHT. THIS IS TO BE FOLLOWED BY BRISK WESTERLIES ALOFT THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING. THIS MOBILE PATTERN IS FORECAST TO SHIFT BACK TO WHAT WE HAVE HAD FOR MUCH OF THIS WINTER...A LARGE AREA OF COLD LOW PRESSURE ALOFT OVER MAINLAND ALASKA WILL BE REESTABLISHED WEDNESDAY...AND IS FORECAST TO HOLD THROUGH MOST OR ALL OF NEXT WEEK. THE INCOMING WEATHER FRONT FROM THE BERING SEA HAS BROUGHT A SUDDEN ONSET OF SNOW AND BRISK EAST WINDS TO THE BERING SEA COAST OF NORTHERN ALASKA. THE AREA OF SNOW IS EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY EXPAND OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL INTERIOR BY THIS EVENING...AND OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR TONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING. MOST OF THE ENERGY AND PRECIPITATION FROM THE BERING SEA WEATHER FRONT IS FORECAST TO BE DIRECTED EASTWARD. BRISK SOUTHWEST WINDS WITHIN 5000 FEET OF SEA LEVEL ARE FORECAST TO BRING STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS AND BLOWING SNOW TO HIGHLAND SUMMITS OF THE INTERIOR SOUTH OF FORT YUKON AND BETTLES TONIGHT...AND TO CONTINUE TUESDAY. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL WILL BE OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN INTERIOR DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. A SERIES OF SHORT WAVES ALOFT IS LIKELY TO MOVE EASTWARD OVER NORTHERN ALASKA STARTING TONIGHT. IN FAST MOVING FLOW ALOFT SUCH AS THERE IS PREDICTED FOR THE NEXT 36 HOURS...THE DETAILS OF THESE SHORT WAVES ARE DIFFICULT TO PREDICT. AS THE COLD TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE ALOFT SETTLES DOWN OVER THE ALASKA MAINLAND STARTING TUESDAY NIGHT...SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS CAN BE EXPECTED TO BRING A PATTERN OF UNEVEN SNOWFALL. COLDER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RETURN STARTING WEDNESDAY EVENING AS THE COLD LOW ALOFT FURTHER EXPANDS OVER MAINLAND ALASKA. THIS MORNINGS POLAR ORBITING WEATHER SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS CLEAR SKIES AND 40 TO 50 BELOW TEMPERATURES OVER THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN BROOKS RANGE...AS WELL AS SOME VALLEYS IN THE NORTHEASTERN INTERIOR. OVERCAST STRATOCUMULUS WHICH HAD PERSISTED OVER THE CENTRAL INTERIOR FOR DAYS IS NOW HEADED SOUTHEASTWARD OVER THE YUKON TANANA UPLANDS AND THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALASKA RANGE. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL WARNING FOR AKZ204. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ213-AKZ214-AKZ215-AKZ216-AKZ220- AKZ221-AKZ222-AKZ227. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ215-PKZ220. && TF MAR 12
Event by event
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Strong Wind in Virginia, March 5, 2012
- Wildfire in Georgia, March 5 to 6, 2012
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in West Virginia, March 5, 2012
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Virginia, March 5, 2012
- Winter Weather in Ohio, March 5, 2012
- Winter Weather in Virginia, March 5, 2012
- High Surf in Hawaii, March 5 to 7, 2012
- Marine Strong Wind in North Atlantic Coastal Waters, March 5, 2012
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Kentucky, March 5, 2012
- High Wind in Wyoming, March 5 to 6, 2012
- Winter Storm in Virginia, March 5, 2012
- Wildfire in Oklahoma, March 5, 2012
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 360567.