Name: Blizzard in Alaska, February 25, 2013
Start: 2013-02-25T01:53
End: 2013-02-25T19:41
Location: Alaska

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.

A strengthening low passed south of the Alaska Peninsula on February 25th as it made its way to the Gulf of Alaska. This low was analyzed between 974 and 978 mb at this time and the Alaska Peninsula was in the cold sector of the storm. This allowed strong cold air advection and dynamic lifting to increase the snow and blowing snow to blizzard conditions.

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 24, 2:00 PM AKST, 11 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 24, 2:00 PM AKST, 11 hours 53 minutes before

SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
200 PM AKST SUN FEB 24 2013

.MODEL DISCUSSION...
GUIDANCE IS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH 84 HOURS. THERE ARE
SOME SMALL DIFFERENCES IN TIMING OF THE SURFACE LOWS AND
PRECIPITATION FIELDS...WITH GENERALLY THE GFS BEING FASTER WITH BOTH
FIELDS THAN THE ECMWF AND NAM. HOWEVER...THE GFS AND ECMWF (AND
UKMET AND GEM GLOBAL) ARE IN GOOD ENOUGH AGREEMENT TO LEND
CONFIDENCE TO THE FORECAST...WHILE THE NAM SEEMS TO BE A BIT OF
AN OUTLIER.

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
FAIRLY ZONAL FLOW EXISTS ACROSS THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. A SERIES
OF LOWS IN THIS FLOW WILL AFFECT SOUTHERN ALASKA OVER THE NEXT FEW
DAYS. THE GENERAL PROGRESSION OF THESE SYSTEMS IS TO SLIDE ALONG
ALONG OR JUST SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS AND THEN NORTHEAST INTO THE
GULF OF ALASKA. THE FIRST SYSTEM IS JUST EAST OF KODIAK AND IS
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AND WEAKENING. ANOTHER LOW IS SPINNING UP
SOUTH OF THE AKPEN/EASTERN ALEUTIANS WITH AN EAST/NORTHEAST
TRAJECTORY. ANOTHER SYSTEM THAT WILL EVENTUALLY AFFECT THE ALEUTIANS
IS FORMING ABOUT 1000 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WESTERN ALEUTIANS.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
THE KODIAK LOW WILL REACH THE GULF COAST TONIGHT AND DISSIPATE
MONDAY MORNING. THIS WILL CONTINUE TO BRING PRECIPITATION TO SOUTH
CENTRAL ALASKA TONIGHT...MAINLY FOR COASTAL AREAS...BUT SOME SHOWERS
WILL MOVE INLAND.

THE SECOND SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO WIND UP AND MOVE NORTHEAST. THIS
WILL BRING POSSIBLE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TO THE AKPEN TONIGHT AND
MONDAY...AND TO THE BRISTOL BAY AREA MONDAY. THE MAIN LOW WILL MOVE
INTO THE GULF LATER MONDAY/MONDAY NIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL BE LARGER
THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE...BUT ALSO CENTERED FURTHER SOUTH.
PRECIPITATION AND WINDS FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO SOUTH
CENTRAL ALASKA MONDAY AND TUESDAY. WITH ITS MORE SOUTHERLY TRACK
PRECIPITATION WILL BE MOSTLY CONFINED TO COASTAL AREAS EVEN MORE SO
THAN THE PREVIOUS SYSTEM. THIS LOW WILL REMAIN IN THE GULF AND
WEAKEN TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

THE SYSTEM SOUTHWEST OF THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS WILL CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP AND WILL MOVE INTO THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS MONDAY AFTERNOON.
THIS LOW WILL BE QUITE LARGE BY THIS TIME AND THE SURFACE PRESSURE
WILL BOTTOM OUT AROUND 970 MB. THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL
ALEUTIANS BY MONDAY EVENING AND THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS TUESDAY. THIS
SYSTEM WILL THEN SLOW DOWN AND WEAKEN TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WATCH 161 181.
MARINE...STORM WARNING 150 155 172 175.
         GALE WARNING 120 130 132 160 165 170 176 185.
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 130 140 150 155 165 170 171 179.
FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

LUDWIG FEB 13

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Alaska Peninsula

When: February 25, 1:53 AM AKST to 7:41 PM AKST
Where: Alaska Peninsula forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

The visibility in Cold Bay (PACD) reached 1/4 mile for the first time at 1:53 AM AKST on the 25th and blizzard criteria was met at 4:53 AM. Blizzard conditions persisted until 4:53 PM that afternoon in Cold Bay. Cold Bay winds were from the North and Northwest and were very consistent for the entire event; gusting between 35 and 41 MPH the entire time. |King Cove (PAVC) developed blizzard conditions at 3:56 AM and blizzard criteria was reached at 6:56 AM. These conditions are estimated to have ended around 7:41 PM that evening. This is an estimate based on the ASOS sensor at PAVC missing the visibility for the afternoon and evening portion of this event. However, judging by wind speeds, precipitation type, and clouds ceilings, in addition to the nearby Cold Bay observation this looks to be a reasonable estimate. Winds in King Cove were quite strong with peak gusts over 75 MPH from 6 AM through the end of the event. The strong peak wind gust was at 11:56 AM when it reached 90 MPH. |The Cold Bay WSO did not report any damage or injuries in either location for this event.

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

More

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: 436269.