Blizzard, St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait
- When
- January 30, 5:16 AM AKST to 10:00 AM AKST
- Where
- St Lawrence Is. Bering Strait forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, January 30, 2013
A 976 mb low in the bering strait produced strong northeast winds over Saint Lawrence Island on the 29th. Blizzard conditions were reported at the Gambell ASOS during the early morning hours of the 30th.
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 976 mb low in the bering strait produced strong northeast winds over Saint Lawrence Island on the 29th. Blizzard conditions were reported at the Gambell ASOS during the early morning hours of the 30th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less.
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 29, 2:31 PM AKST, 14 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 2:31 PM AKST, 14 hours 45 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 231 PM AKST TUE JAN 29 2013 .DISCUSSION... 974MB LOW NEAR SAINT PAUL ISLAND WILL ROTATE NWWD AND WEAKEN TO 990MB JUST WEST OF ST MATTHEW ISLAND BY WED EVENING. THE ASSOCD FRONTAL STRUCTURE IS COMPLEX BUT BASICALLY WITH WARM FRONT MOVG NWD TONITE AND WED. PRES GRAD FAIRLY STRONG ACROSS THE NRN BERING SEA AND ADJACENT LAND AREAS NEXT 24 HOURS HAS STRONG HIGH OVER CHUKOTKA...EAST SIBERIAN AND NRN CHUKCHI SEAS PERSISTS. COLD HIGH PRESSURE NOW WELL SE OF ALASKA THOUGH MODERATE PRES GRAD PERSISTS OVER THE INTERIOR. ALOFT...RIDGE BUILDING ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST FROM WASHINGTON NWWD INTO ERN ALASKA AND SOME RETROGRESSION OF THE MEAN LOW POSITION IN THE SRN BERING SEA ARE THE MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS AND ARE SIMILARLY HANDLED IN THE SHORT RANGE. SOUTH OF THE BROOKS RANGE AIR MASS HAS ALREADY MODERATED SOME AND WILL CONTINUE TO WARM. NORTH SLOPE WILL BE THE COOLEST AREA NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...THOUGH TEMPS NOT MUCH...IF ANY...BELOW NORMAL. MID-RANGE GUIDANCE CONTS TO SHOW CONSIDERABLE SPREAD OVER NRN ALASKA...LARGELY RELATED TO EVOLUTION OF RIDGE AND HOW MUCH ENERGY MOVES INTO NRN ALASKA FROM THE CANADIAN ARCTIC. TREND HAS BEEN FOR LESS COLD AIR TO MAKE IT SOUTH OF THE BROOKS RANGE...THOUGH NO TREND ON WHETHER THE RIDGE HOLDS OVR SRN MAINLAND ALASKA OR RETREATS AND MORE SWLY FLOW DEVELOPS. IN ANY CASE...NO DEEP COLD COLD IN SIGHT. NORTH SLOPE...HIGH PRESSURE MOSTLY PERSISTING. SOUTH OF 71N...SOME INCREASE IN PRES GRADIENT NEXT 24 HOURS WILL BUMP UP WINDS. WEST COAST...BLIZ WARNING LATER TONIGHT AND WED FOR ZONE 213 AND WSW ZONE 214. WWA FOR ZONE 215. ELSEWHERE NEXT 24 HOURS SOME SNOW... AND ON THE COAST WIND...BUT NOT EXPECTED TO REACH ADVISORY LEVELS. INTERIOR...ALTHOUGH AMS HAS MODERATED...IN THE SHORT TERM THIS IS NOT REALLY A CHINOOK SITUATION. WITH W-SW FLOW ALOFT WARM FRONTAL TYPE SNOW IS LIKELY FARTHER EAST THAN OFTEN OCCURS WITH BERING SEA STORMS. QPFS THOUGH ARE LOW...PERHAPS AN INCH OR TWO OF SNOW. GENERALLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS THRU THE WEEKEND...THO OF COURSE LOCALLY COLD IN CLEAR CALM VALLEYS. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ220-AKZ223. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ214. BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ213. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ215. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230. && RT JAN 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
- Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, January 30, 2013
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, January 30, 2013
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, January 30, 2013
- Flooding and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, January 30 to 31, 2013
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Michigan, January 30 to 31, 2013
- Flash Flooding in Maryland, January 30 to 31, 2013
- Flood in Michigan, January 30 to 31, 2013
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Virginia, January 30 to 31, 2013
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Alabama, January 30, 2013
- Damaging Winds in Indiana, January 30, 2013
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, January 30, 2013
- Damaging Winds in South Carolina, January 30, 2013
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: 431403.