Blizzard in Alaska, February 2 to 3, 2013

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, February 2 to 3, 2013
Start: 2013-02-02T16:18
End: 2013-02-03T14:53
Location: Alaska

February 2 to 3, 2013 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong low in the just south of the Eastern Aleutian Islands set up a stationary frontal boundary over the Eastern Bering Sea and the Pribilof Islands from the afternoon of February 2 through the afternoon of February 3rd. This produced Blizzard conditions over both St Paul Island and St George Island.

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 AFC wrote it up.

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 2, 2:00 PM AKST, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 2:00 PM AKST, 2 hours 18 minutes before

SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
200 PM AKST SAT FEB 2 2013

.MODEL DISCUSSION...
GUIDANCE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE SHORT TERM PORTION OF
THE FORECAST. THERE ARE SOME SUBTLE DIFFERENCES IN THE TIMING AND
POSITION OF THE LOW NEAR THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS/ALASKA PENINSULA
(AKPEN) AND THE FRONT MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN GULF ON SUNDAY...BUT
NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE BIG IMPACTS ON THE FORECAST. FOR MONDAY NIGHT
THERE ARE DIFFERENCES IN HOW THEY HANDLE A LOW DEVELOPING ON A FRONT
STRETCHED ACROSS THE ALEUTIANS WITH THE GFS BEING A LITTLE FASTER
AND STRONGER THAN THE ECMWF...WHILE THE NAM IS IN BETWEEN ON SPEED
AND HAS THE DEEPEST SURFACE LOW.

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
THE MAJOR LONG-WAVE FEATURES ARE AN UPPER LEVEL LOW CENTERED JUST
SOUTH OF UNALASKA WITH A TROUGH STRETCHING NORTHWEST INTO
NORTHEASTERN RUSSIA...AND A NEGATIVELY TILTED RIDGE ALONG THE NORTH
AMERICAN WEST COAST THROUGH NORTHERN ALASKA. A WEATHER FRONT
ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW STRETCHES FROM ABOUT DUTCH HARBOR EASTWARD
INTO THE CENTRAL GULF OF ALASKA AND THEN BENDS SOUTHWARD. A WEAKER
FRONT IS JUST ONSHORE ALONG THE NORTHERN GULF COAST.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA...A WEAK FRONT ALONG THE NORTH GULF COAST WILL
WASH OUT TONIGHT WITH MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH THIS
FEATURE CONFINED TO COASTAL AREAS. THE NEXT STRONGER FRONT WILL
REACH KODIAK THIS EVENING AND THE NORTH GULF COAST LAT TONIGHT. THIS
SYSTEM WILL ALSO WEAKEN SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER HITTING THE COAST...BUT
WILL MOVE INLAND PROVIDING ELEVATED CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION SUNDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AFTER THIS THE WEATHER WILL BE FAIRLY QUIET
THROUGH TUESDAY AS THE MAIN UPPER LOW CURRENTLY SOUTH OF UNALASKA
SPLITS INTO TWO WEAKER LOWS...ONE MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST ALASKA AND
THE OTHER INTO THE SOUTHERN GULF OF ALASKA.

SOUTHWEST ALASKA...THE FRONT OVER THE AKPEN THIS EVENING WILL MOVE
INTO SOUTHWEST ALASKA LATER TONIGHT AS IT CONTINUES TO WEAKEN...THEN
WILL DISSIPATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON. THE UPPER LOW CURRENTLY SOUTH OF
UNALASKA WILL SPLIT LATER SUNDAY...WITH THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE
SPLIT MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST ALASKA ON MONDAY. THIS WILL BRING COOLER
AIR INTO THE BRISTOL BAY AREA AND ELEVATED CHANCES OF SNOW INTO ALL
OF MAINLY SOUTHWEST ALASKA.

THE ALEUTIANS AND BERING SEA...
AS THE UPPER LOW SOUTH OF UNALASKA MOVES EASTWARD TONIGHT...SOME
WRAP-AROUND MOISTURE WILL CROSS THE PRIBILOFS. THIS WILL COMBINE
WITH THE ALREADY STRONG WINDS FOR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. THESE
CONDITIONS WILL EASE UP ON SUNDAY AS THE WINDS AND SNOWFALL ABATE.
AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE THAT IS CURRENTLY BUILDING
INTO THE WESTERN BERING SEA WILL THEN SLIDE EASTWARD ACROSS THE
CENTRAL BERING SEA ON MONDAY. A WEATHER FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE
WESTERN ALEUTIANS LATE SUNDAY AND INTO THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS ON
MONDAY. THIS FRONT WILL THEN STALL ON MONDAY AS THE ALEUTIAN RIDGE
HOLDS IN PLACE AND THEN BREAK APART MONDAY NIGHT. ANOTHER STRONGER
SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS ON TUESDAY.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WATCH 195.
MARINE...GALE WARNING 120 130 138 140 150 155 170 172 175 176 179.
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 179 185.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

LUDWIG FEB 13

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Pribilof Islands

When: February 2, 4:18 PM AKST to February 3, 2:53 PM AKST
Where: Pribilof Islands forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard conditions occurred from late afternoon/early evening of February 2nd on both Pribilof Islands and persisted into the middle of the afternoon the next day. The peak of the event on St George was at 5:03 PM February 2nd when they were 1/4 mile visibility in blowing snow and North winds 38 mph gusting to 51 mph. The peak on St Paul was 11:53 AM February 3rd with 1/4 mile visibility in blowing snow and North winds 39 MPH gusting to 45 MPH.

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 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 2013

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: 434105.