Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast
- When
- March 19, 3:50 PM AKST to 10:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWSS
Blizzard in Alaska, March 19, 2013
A 1003 mb low near Banks Island by 1300AKST on the 19th coupled with a strong high pressure center over western Alaska created a strong pressure gradient, providing strong winds and local blizzard conditions at Barter Island. Zone 204: Blizzard conditions were observed at Barter Island from approximately 1500AKST through 2200AKST on the 19th.
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 1003 mb low near Banks Island by 1300AKST on the 19th coupled with a strong high pressure center over western Alaska created a strong pressure gradient, providing strong winds and local blizzard conditions at Barter Island.
Zone 204: Blizzard conditions were observed at Barter Island from approximately 1500AKST through 2200AKST on the 19th. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust of 39 kt (45 mph) at the Barter Island AWOS during the afternoon.
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 Mar 19, 1:37 PM AKST, 2 hours 13 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 19, 1:37 PM AKST, 2 hours 13 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 237 PM AKDT TUE MAR 19 2013 .DISCUSSION... A FAIRLY COMPLEX WEATHER PATTERN IS DEVELOPING OVER NORTHERN ALASKA AS SEVERAL DISTINCT FEATURES WILL BE EFFECTING THE REGION. A COLD LOW ALOFT OVER THE WESTERN NORTHWEST TERRITORIES AND ASSOCIATED 1015 MB LOW IN THE EASTERN BEAUFORT SEA IS MOVING WESTWARD AND WILL BE CENTERED NEAR BARROW WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. A 1025 MB SURFACE LOW SOUTH OF WRANGEL ISLAND WILL MOVE TO EASTERN NORTON SOUND WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND DEEPEN TO 1017 MB. 1037 MB HIGH NEAR SAINT MATTHEW ISLAND WEAKENING TO 1025 MB AND MOVING TO BRISTOL BAY BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. A DEVELOPING 996 MB LOW JUST EAST OF KAMCHATKA WILL MOVE NORTHEASTWARD TO NEAR NUNIVAK ISLAND BY THURSDAY EVENING AND WEAKEN TO 1004 MB. A 992 MB LOW WILL MOVE OFF OF JAPAN WEDNESDAY MORNING...RAPIDLY DEEPENING TO 946 MB JUST SOUTH OF KAMCHATKA BY NOON THURSDAY. THIS FEATURE WILL THEN MOVE ALONG THE ALEUTIANS...REACHING BRISTOL BAY SAT EVENING. COMPUTER GUIDANCE IS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE FEATURES NEXT NEXT THREE DAYS...BUT THERE IS CONSIDERABLE VARIABILITY IN PRECIPITATION AND SNOW FORECASTS. PRECIPITATION...IF ANY...IN THE INTERIOR WILL BE VERY LIGHT UNTIL A MORE SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE SOURCE ARRIVES THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY. THE COMPUTER MODELS FOR THIS WEEKEND AND BEYOND HAVE BEEN SHOWING A WIDE VARIETY OF SOLUTIONS. HOWEVER...THE EVOLUTION OF THE PATTERN FOR THIS WEEKEND DOES LOOK TO BE INCREASINGLY CLEAR AS THE COLD ARCTIC LOW REMAINS OVER THE NORTH SLOPE WHILE MOISTURE WITH THE ALEUTIAN LOW GETS PULLED NORTHEASTWARD INTO MAINLAND ALASKA. BY EARLY NEXT WEEK THERE REMAINS MORE THAN THE USUAL AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTY. NORTH SLOPE...WITH THE MAIN SURFACE LOW HEADED TOWARD BARROW AND PRESSURES FALLING INLAND...WINDS ARE LIKELY NEAR THE MAX NOW. THE CLOSED LOW SHOULD PRODUCE AN INCH OR TWO SNOW IN MOST AREAS, THE AIRMASS IS QUITE COLD RIGHT UNDER THE LOW...BUT UNLESS SKIES CLEAR PROBABLY NO COLDER THAN AROUND NORMAL MOST AREAS. WEST COAST...BAND OF STRATUS AND FOG EXTENDS FROM NEAR WRANGEL ISLAND SOUTHEAST TO THE NORTHERN SEWARD PENINSULA COAST. THE DEEPER MOISTURE WITH THE SURFACE LOW SOUTH OF WRANGEL IS NOW APPROACHING THE BERING STRAIT FROM THE WEST. THIS LOOKS TO BE ONLY A MINIMAL SNOW MAKER FOR WESTERN ALASKA. INTERIOR...SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS SOME CLOUDS SOUTH AND EAST OF FAIRBANKS...BUT THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTS THUS FAR OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION. OTHERWISE NO SIGNIFICANT CLOUD COVER YET. MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS LIKELY THURSDAY NIGHT IN THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR AND THIS WILL SPREAD NORTHEAST FRIDAY. HOW FAR EAST IT MAKES IT WILL DEPEND ON EXACTLY HOW MUCH DOWNSLOPE FLOW OFF THE ALASKA RANGE. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && RT MAR 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
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 19 to 24, 2013
- Lake-Effect Snow in New York, March 19 to 21, 2013
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, March 19 to 20, 2013
- Heavy Snow and Damaging Winds in Washington, March 19 to 20, 2013
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, March 19 to 20, 2013
- High Wind in West Virginia, March 19, 2013
- Heavy Snow in Maine, March 19 to 20, 2013
- Heavy Snow in Maine, March 19 to 20, 2013
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, March 19 to 20, 2013
- Strong Wind in California, March 19, 2013
- Lake-Effect Snow in Michigan, March 19 to 20, 2013
- Flooding in Illinois, March 19 to 27, 2013
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 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: 445376.