Alaska, 2013

Astronomical Low Tide in Alaska, January 17, 2013

January 17, 2013 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong 1050 mb high over the arctic ocean produced strong winds along the North Slope. Temperatures of 20 to 30 below zero combined with a northeast wind of around 15 mph to produce wind chills as low as 61 below at the Deadhorse ASOS.

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.

A strong 1050 mb high over the arctic ocean produced strong winds along the North Slope. Temperatures of 20 to 30 below zero combined with a northeast wind of around 15 mph to produce wind chills as low as 61 below at the Deadhorse ASOS.

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 17, 2:20 PM AKST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 17, 2:20 PM AKST, 3 hours 40 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
220 PM AKST THU JAN 17 2013

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH 60 HOURS. UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE
OVER CENTRAL ALASKA IS RETREATING EASTWARD WHICH IS DISSIPATING
THE LIGHT SNOW AND FLURRIES OVER MUCH OF THE INTERIOR. ISOLATED
SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE REDUCED TO JUST THE AREA OVER THE AREA NEAR
NORTHWAY AND TOK BY LATER THIS EVENING. CLOUDS WILL DISSIPATE FROM
THE NORTH AS THE COLD ADVECTION MOVES SOUTHWARD. THIS WILL
EFFECTIVELY CLEAR OUT MANY OF THE CLOUDS LEFT OVER IN NORTHERN
ALASKA THROUGH FRIDAY. BEGINNING FRIDAY EVENING...THE UPPER LEVEL
RIDGE BEGINS BUILDING BACK NORTHWARD AND PUSHES THE ARCTIC FRONT
BACK TO THE NORTHERN INTERIOR BY SAT AFTERNOON.

EXTREMELY STRONG HIGH IN THE ARCTIC WILL PERSIST THROUGH NEXT
WEEK. A FEW LOWS WILL MOVE NORTH ALONG THE OUTER PERIMETER OF THE
UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE WEST COAST AND SPREAD SOME SNOW ALONG
THE WEST COAST OVER THE WEEKEND.

A STRONG UPPER LOW WILL MOVE WESTWARD FROM NORTHERN CANADA NEXT
WEEK AND PUSH ANOTHER SHOT OF COLD TEMPERATURES OVER NORTHERN
ALASKA BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.

DEEP COLD AIR OVER THE ARCTIC COAST AND SLOPE WITH DECENT
GRADIENT ...MOSTLY HELPED ALONG BY THE STRONG HIGH IN THE ARCTIC
IS PRODUCE WIND CHILL CRITERIA AND WILL THROUGH FRI MORNING.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ204-AKZ206-AKZ208-AKZ217-AKZ218.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ245.
&&

CF JAN 13

Event by event

1 astronomical low tide. Local standard time, as filed.

Astronomical Low Tide, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When
January 17, 6:00 PM AKST to 11:00 PM AKST
Where
Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS

Minus 61 degrees Fahrenheit recorded at the Deadhorse ASOS in the evening of the 17th.

What these are

Astronomical Low Tide
Unusually low water from tides and offshore wind that caused impacts.

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: 431008.