In mid through late January a persistent pattern set-up with strong systems moving up from the North Pacific into the Eastern Aleutians/Alaska Peninsula, continuing on into the Bering Sea. Combined with strong high pressure over the Arctic, the pressure gradient resulted in strong gusty winds which, when accompanied by snow, created blizzard conditions January 18th through 19th in the Pribilof…
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.
The episode as NWS AFC wrote it up.
In mid through late January a persistent pattern set-up with strong systems moving up from the North Pacific into the Eastern Aleutians/Alaska Peninsula, continuing on into the Bering Sea. Combined with strong high pressure over the Arctic, the pressure gradient resulted in strong gusty winds which, when accompanied by snow, created blizzard conditions January 18th through 19th in the Pribilof Islands and the Kuskokwim Delta.
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 Jan 19, 5:00 AM AKST, 5 hours 33 minutes earlier.
SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
500 AM AKST SAT JAN 19 2013
.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...
AN UPPER LEVEL LOW IS MOVING NORTH TOWARD THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS
STREAMING LOW AND MID LEVEL CLOUDS OVER THE BERING AND SOUTH ALASKA.
TWO OTHER LOW PRESSURE CENTERS ARE ADJACENT TO THIS LOW...ONE
PRESSURE CENTER IS SITUATED SOUTH OF THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS AND THE
OTHER IS OVER THE WESTERN BERING. TO THE EAST...AN AMPLIFIED RIDGE
EXTENDS ACROSS THE EASTERN PACIFIC WITH THE AXIS EXTENDING ACROSS
SOUTHCENTRAL TO THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA. AT THE SURFACE...THERE ARE TWO
LOW PRESSURE CENTERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED UPPER LOWS
OVER THE PACIFIC. A FRONT HAS MOVED INTO THE SOUTHERN BERING AND
WARMER TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE ALEUTIANS ARE KEEPING THE
PRECIPITATION ALL RAIN ALONG THE CHAIN. LIGHT SNOW IS FALLING NORTH
OF THE FRONT ACROSS SOUTHWEST ALASKA AND THE WESTERN GULF. BLIZZARD
CONDITIONS THAT STARTED LAST NIGHT ACROSS THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS ARE
CONTINUING THIS MORNING. WINDS ACROSS SOUTH ALASKA THROUGH THE
CENTRAL ALEUTIANS ARE FROM THE EAST TO NORTHEAST WITH STRONG WINDS
ALONG AND NORTH OF THE FRONT.
.MODEL DISCUSSION...
MODELS CONTINUE TO BE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE SHORT TERM. THE
GFS AND ECMWF ARE CLOSEST IN PLACEMENT AND TIMING OF THE MULTIPLE
FRONTS THAT WILL AFFECT THE FORECAST AREA AND THEREFORE WERE
UTILIZED THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST. THE FIRST FRONT WILL MOVE NORTH
TODAY WITH A LOW PRESSURE CENTER THAT CROSSES THE ALEUTIANS NEAR
COLD BAY. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS ALONG THE NORTH AND EASTERN
PERIPHERY OF THE LOW AS IT STRENGTHENS INTO THE BERING. WINDS WILL
BE STRONG AND GUSTY IN RESPONSE. PRECIPITATION WITH THIS FRONT WILL
START OUT AS SNOW. SOME AREAS WILL CHANGE OVER TO RAIN OR BECOME A
MIX OF SNOW AND RAIN...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE COASTAL LOCATIONS AS
SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW USHERS IN WARMER AIR.
.SHORT TERM FORECAST...
SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...
THE SURFACE LOW IN THE EASTERN BERING WILL PUSH THE WEATHER FRONT
FROM THE WESTERN GULF INTO THE NORTHERN GULF LATER TODAY.
TEMPERATURES HAVE ALREADY WARMED INTO THE MID AND UPPER 30S ACROSS
THE WESTERN GULF AND PRECIPITATION IS FALLING AS RAIN ACROSS KODIAK.
AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE. SNOW
WILL FALL ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHCENTRAL. IN AREAS WHERE TEMPERATURES
RISE ABOVE FREEZING...MAINLY ALONG THE COAST...SNOW WILL CHANGE OVER
TO RAIN. THE BLIZZARD WATCH FOR THIS EVENING THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM REMAINS IN EFFECT.
PRECIPITATION WILL TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO EAST ON SUNDAY. ANOTHER
FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH MONDAY INTO TUESDAY.
SOUTHWEST ALASKA...
EASTERLY SURFACE WINDS INCREASE TODAY AS A FRONT MOVES INTO THE
BERING. THE BLIZZARD WARNING FOR THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS CONTINUES
THROUGH 9 PM TODAY. A BLIZZARD WARNING FOR THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA IS IN
EFFECT FROM 1 PM TODAY THROUGH MIDNIGHT TONIGHT ALONG THE COAST. THE
ALASKA PENINSULA WILL CONTINUE TO SEE RAIN TODAY AND THEN POSSIBLY
MIX WITH SNOW TONIGHT. ACROSS BRISTOL BAY...PRECIPITATION WILL START
AS SNOW AND THEN AFTER THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH AREAS EAST OF
DILLINGHAM WILL SEE A MIX OF SNOW AND RAIN. FROM DILLINGHAM AND
WEST...FREEZING RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE AS TEMPERATURES WILL BE BE
SLOWER TO WARM. A SECOND SURFACE LOW MOVES THROUGH THE CENTRAL
ALEUTIANS ON SUNDAY KEEPING CHANCES FOR SNOW AND RAIN IN THE FORECAST
THROUGH THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK.
ALEUTIANS/BERING SEA...
THE FIRST OF SEVERAL FRONTS IS CURRENTLY MOVING INTO THE SOUTHERN
BERING. TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO BE AT OR ABOVE FREEZING ALONG THE
ALEUTIANS AND PRECIPITATION IS FALLING AS RAIN. THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS
REMAIN BELOW FREEZING AND BLOWING SNOW CONTINUED OVERNIGHT. THE
FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTH TODAY ALONG WITH WARMER
TEMPERATURES AND WILL BRING A MIX OF SNOW AND RAIN ACROSS THE BERING.
STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE BERING THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK.
.LONG TERM FORECAST...
A BROAD LONG WAVE PATTERN WILL SPAN ACROSS SOUTH ALASKA AND THE
BERING AS THE RIDGE OVER SOUTHCENTRAL MOVES EASTWARD BY MID WEEK.
WEAK SHORT WAVES EMBEDDED IN THIS PATTERN WILL BRING CHANCES OF RAIN
AND SNOW THROUGH THE LONG TERM FORECAST. BY NEXT THURSDAY AN UPPER
RIDGE PUSHES INTO THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS WHICH WILL PROVIDE A SHORT
BREAK FROM PRECIPITATION BEFORE THE NEXT LOW MOVES INTO THE WESTERN
ALEUTIANS ON FRIDAY.
.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...BLIZZARD WARNING 155 195
BLIZZARD WATCH 125
MARINE...STORM 138 185
GALE 120 130 132 136 137 140 150 155 160 165 176 179 180
HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 140 185
FIRE WEATHER...NONE
KH JAN 131 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Toksook Bay reported peak event conditions in the Kuskokwim Delta, with one quarter of a mile in snow and blowing snow with northast winds gusting to 44 kt.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 2013
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: 432291.