Alaska, 2013

Blizzard and Ice Storm in Alaska, January 11 to 14, 2013

January 11 to 14, 2013 · NWS AFG · 12 events in 12 counties and zones

A low pressure center of 976 mb near the Pribilofs on the afternoon of the 12th moved north to the Bering Strait 0900AKST on the 14th weakening to 986 mb, then continued north to the central Chukchi sea through the morning of the 15th, weakening to 1002 mb. A series of weather fronts associated with the low moved northeast over northern Alaska on the 13th through 15th, at first pushing warmer…

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
12

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.

A low pressure center of 976 mb near the Pribilofs on the afternoon of the 12th moved north to the Bering Strait 0900AKST on the 14th weakening to 986 mb, then continued north to the central Chukchi sea through the morning of the 15th, weakening to 1002 mb. A series of weather fronts associated with the low moved northeast over northern Alaska on the 13th through 15th, at first pushing warmer air north then followed by cooling on the 15th.

Zone 201: Blizzard conditions occurred at Wainwright, Point Lay, and Atqasuk. At Atqasuk, the wind gusted as high as 56 kt (64 mph) around noon on the 13th.

Zone 202: Blizzard conditions occurred at Barrow From about noon on the 13th through mid-morning on the 14th, where the visibility was 1/4 mile or less in snow and blowing snow. The wind gusted as high as 51 kt (59 mph) in the late morning of the 13th.

Zone 203: Blizzard conditions occurred at Deadhorse, Nuiqsut, Alpine, and Kuparuk. The wind gusted as high as 51 kt (59 mph) at Deadhorse on the morning of the 13th.

Zone 206; Blizzard conditions likely occurred over the far northern portion of the zone throughout the 13th, as inferred from conditions reported by observing platforms in the adjacent zone 203.

Zone 209: Blizzard conditions occurred at Selawik, where the visibility was around 1/4 mile in blowing snow during the evening of the 12th. Near-blizzard conditions occurred at Kotzebue during this time.| |Zone 213: Blizzard conditions occurred at Gambell during the evening of the 12th, as indicated by the AWOS. Blowing snow reduced visibility to 1/4 mile or less.

Zone 215: Rain was reported at Russian Mission. During the afternoon of the 12th 0.21 inches fell.

Zone 217: Near blizzard conditions were likely at Shungnak where the AWSS reported visibilities as low as 1/4 mile, but only for about an hour. Additionally, the wind gusted as high as 52 knots (60 mph) at Shungnak.

Zone 219: Heavy snow was reported at Bettles, where a storm total of 14 inches was reported by the FAA contract weather observer.

Zone 221: Rain fell on the 14th over the western portions of the zone, with Nenana ASOS receiving 0.16 inches and Clear Sky Lodge Co-operative Observer reporting 0.29 inches.

Zone 222: Freezing Rain fell in the Fairbanks area. The Airport received approximately 0.15 inches on the 14th. The amount of ice that developed on the roads prompted school officials to close school on the 15th.

Zone 224: Northway ASOS reported 0.13 inch of rain on the morning of the 14th.

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 Jan 11, 3:48 PM AKST, 2 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 11, 3:48 PM AKST, 2 hours 53 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
348 PM AKST FRI JAN 11 2013

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH 36 HOURS. WEATHER PATTERN IS
VERY BUSY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER EASTERN
PORTION OF THE STATE IS BEING CONTAMINATED BY AN UPPER LEVEL
TROUGH WITH ASSOCIATED SURFACE FEATURE. THIS HAS SPREAD SNOWFALL
OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN INTERIOR THU NIGHT AND FRI
DURING THE DAY. THE RIDGE RE-DEFINES ITSELF AGAIN ON SAT BUT
BECOMES THE PRECIPICE FOR THE WEATHER IN THE WESTERN PORTION OF
THE STATE.

THE RIDGE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PUMPING UP THE VERY WARM AIR
FROM THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC. THIS WILL BEGIN TO INFLUENCE THE
PRECIPITATION TYPE LATER ON SAT FOR MUCH OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR.
ANOTHER STRONG SHORT WAVE WILL DIG INTO THE RIDGE ON SUN AND
PROVIDE ANOTHER BIG SHOT OF MOISTURE. THIS WAVE WILL HAVE
RECIRCULATED COLDER AIR WITH IT SO IT WILL BEGIN TO COOL THE
WESTERN ZONES DOWN BY SUN NIGHT AND MON.

THE CENTRAL INTERIOR MAY BE DOWN SLOPED OUT FOR MUCH OF THIS
EVENT. MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION IN THE WESTERN INTERIOR WILL
CHANGE OVER TO RAIN ON SAT EVENING AND SUN MORNING WHICH WILL
PROVIDE NUMEROUS AREAS OF FREEZING RAIN.

WIND CHILLS ON PARTS OF THE ARCTIC COAST WILL REMAIN IN THE
ADVISORY CATEGORY THROUGH MUCH OF FRI NIGHT. WINDS WILL INCREASE
ON THE ARCTIC COAST BEGINNING FRI NIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE
WEEKEND. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE BERING STRAIT
AND ST LAWRENCE ISLAND THROUGH THIS EVENING.

BY MON...THE RIDGE GETS FLATTENED OUT AND COLD AIR WILL PUSH SOUTH
TO INFLUENCE ALL OF NORTHERN ALASKA TO SOME DEGREE THROUGH THE
REMAINDER OF THE WEEK.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ201-AKZ203-AKZ204-AKZ205.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ213-AKZ215.

FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY FOR AKZ214-AKZ215-AKZ216-AKZ221-AKZ227.

WINTER STORM WATCH FOR AKZ208-AKZ210-AKZ211-AKZ217.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ230-
PKZ235-PKZ240-PKZ245.
&&

CF JAN 13

Event by event

6 blizzard, 4 ice storm, 1 heavy snow, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast

When
January 11, 6:41 PM AKST to January 14, 1:53 AM AKST
Where
Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS

Ice Storm, Lower Yukon Valley

When
January 12, 11:56 AM AKST to 5:56 PM AKST
Where
Lower Yukon Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWSS

Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait

When
January 12, 8:16 PM AKST to January 13, 1:16 AM AKST
Where
St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When
January 12, 8:22 PM AKST to 11:36 PM AKST
Where
Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS

Heavy Snow, Upper Koyukuk Valley

When
January 12, 9:00 PM AKST to January 14, 9:00 PM AKST
Where
Upper Koyukuk Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

Blizzard, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When
January 12, 9:53 PM AKST to January 14, 1:32 AM AKST
Where
Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS

Blizzard, N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R

When
January 13, 12:53 AM AKST to 11:30 PM AKST
Where
N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS

Winter Weather, Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys

When
January 13, 1:25 AM AKST to 5:02 AM AKST
Where
Upper Kobuk and Noatak Vlys forecast zone
Reported by
AWSS

Blizzard, Northern Arctic Coast

When
January 13, 11:17 AM AKST to January 14, 8:53 AM AKST
Where
Northern Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS

Ice Storm, Upr Tanana Vly Fortymile

When
January 14, 1:37 AM AKST to 10:32 AM AKST
Where
Upr Tanana Vly Fortymile forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS

Ice Storm, Wrn Tanana Vly Wrn Yukon Vly

When
January 14, 2:13 AM AKST to 2:08 PM AKST
Where
Wrn Tanana Vly Wrn Yukon Vly forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS

Ice Storm, Middle Tanana Valley

When
January 14, 8:21 AM AKST to 9:00 PM AKST
Where
Middle Tanana Valley forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS

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.
Ice Storm
Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.
Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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, January 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: 423672, 423647, 423649, 423666, 423655, 423693, 423694, 423656, 423675, 423667, 423654, 423653.