Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast
- When
- February 28, 5:42 AM AKST to 8:56 PM AKST
- Where
- Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWSS
Blizzard in Alaska, February 28, 2013
Strong high pressure over Russia and low pressure over Alaska produced blizzard conditions on the western Arctic Coast on the 28th. At Point Lay, the visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less.
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.
Strong high pressure over Russia and low pressure over Alaska produced blizzard conditions on the western Arctic Coast on the 28th. At Point Lay, the visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less. There was a peak wind gust of 45kt (52 mph) at the Point Lay AWSS.
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 Feb 28, 4:09 AM AKST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 4:09 AM AKST, 1 hour 33 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 409 AM AKST THU FEB 28 2013 .DISCUSSION... MODELS...GOOD AGREEMENT ON THE MAJOR FEATURES THROUGH 96 HOURS WITH ONLY MINOR DIFFERENCES IN THE FIRST 60 HOURS OR SO. ALOFT...AT 500 HPA...513 DAM CLOSED LOW OVER NORTHERN YUKON TERRITORY WILL SLOWLY FILL AND BE ABSORBED BY LOW OVER THE CANADIAN ARCHIPELAGO AS IT MOVES EAST NEXT 30 HOURS. 494 DAM CLOSED LOW OVER THE NORTHERN KAMCHATKA PENINSULA WILL ROTATE SOUTHEAST THEN NORTH TO NEAR WRANGEL ISLAND BY SATURDAY MORNING AS A 498 DAM CLOSED LOW THEN CONTINUE NORTH AS IS FILLS. A 510 DAM CLOSED LOW 200 NM SOUTH OF SAND POINT WILL DEVELOP INTO A COMPLEX LOW SYSTEM OF SEVERAL LOWS OVER PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AND THE GULF THEN CONTINUE NORTH OVER THE INTERIOR. A 525 LOW IN THE COMPLEX SOUTH OF THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL DEVELOP INTO A 529 DAM CLOSED LOW OVER THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. A SHARP RIDGE WILL DEVELOP OVER THE ALASKA PENINSULA AND BRISTOL BAY FRIDAY NIGHT PUSHING NORTH OVER THE INTERIOR BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. A 504 DAM LOW WILL DEVELOP IN THE LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER THE NORTH PACIFIC AND MOVE OVER THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS SATURDAY MORNING THEN DIVE SOUTH OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA BY SUNDAY MORNING. AT 850 HPA...WEAK COLD AIR ADVECTION BEGINNING TONIGHT WILL HELP PUSH TEMPERATURES DOWN A FEW...3 TO 6...DEGREES FROM THE PAST FEW DAYS. SURFACE...PRETTY MESSY PICTURE WITH NOT MUCH GOING ON PRECIPITATION WISE. 990 MB LOW IN THE SHELIKOF STRAIT WILL MOVE NORTH AS IT DISSIPATES. A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING 983 MB LOW SOUTH OF THE GULF WILL MOVE TO 200 NM SOUTH OF YAKUTAT BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON THEN OVER PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND BY FRIDAY MORNING. ANOTHER LOW MOVES OUT OF THE NORTH PACIFIC THURSDAY NIGHT AND EVENTUALLY TO PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND BY SATURDAY MORNING AS A 1012 MB LOW. A 996 LOW 600 NM SOUTH OF THE KAMCHATKA PENINSULA TODAY WILL MOVE 300 NM SOUTH OF ADAK BY FRIDAY MORNING AND TO NEAR DUTCH HARBOR BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON THEN SPLIT INTO A 1004 MB LOW THAT MOVES NORTH AND DISSIPATES AND A 988 MB LOW THAT DIVES SOUTH OF THE GULF OF ALASKA. ARCTIC COAST...WINDS CONTINUE TO CAUSE PROBLEMS TODAY AND MAY EVEN INCREASE SLIGHTLY THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT. LARGE AREA OF STRATUS ON THE EASTERN COAST IS MOVING WEST AT THIS TIME. WILL BE DIFFICULT TO FORECAST ITS MOVEMENT BUT EXPECT IT TO MOVE OVER PRUDHOE BAY AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND THEN WE EXPECT IT TO PUSH MAINLY OFFSHORE. WEST COAST...QUIET CONTINUES. A FEW LOCALIZED FLURRIES OR EVEN A SNOW SHOWER BUT MOST AREAS WILL BE PARTLY CLOUDY WITH GENERALLY LIGHT WINDS TODAY. NO SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION EXPECTED UNTIL AT LEAST SUNDAY. THERE WILL BE INCREASING WINDS OVER THE COAST ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. INTERIOR...NOT MUCH GOING ON. SOME LOCAL GUSTY WINDS IN THE ALASKA RANGE WILL GRADUALLY DROP OFF TODAY. A FEW PATCHES OF CLOUDS MOVING THROUGH THE AREA TODAY MAY PRODUCE SOME LOCALIZED FLURRIES BUT NO ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. ANOTHER BOUT OF FLURRIES IN THE EASTERN INTERIOR ON SATURDAY BUT AGAIN NO SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATION EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ201. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ225-PKZ230-PKZ235-PKZ240-PKZ245. && SDB FEB 13
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
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 437119.