Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Alaska, May 12 to 14, 2013

Name: Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Alaska, May 12 to 14, 2013
Start: 2013-05-12T03:16
End: 2013-05-14T04:53
Location: Alaska

May 12 to 14, 2013 · NWS AFG · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

producing heavy snow in the Brooks Range and central Beaufort Sea Coast, along with a period of blizzard conditions near Prudhoe Bay. | |Zone 203: The Co-operative Observer at Colville River reported 8 inches of snow as of noon on the 13th.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 cold front moved east across the North Slope on the 12th and 13th..producing heavy snow in the Brooks Range and central Beaufort Sea Coast, along with a period of blizzard conditions near Prudhoe Bay. | |Zone 203: The Co-operative Observer at Colville River reported 8 inches of snow as of noon on the 13th. Blizzard conditions occurred at Nuiqsut and Deadhorse on the evening of the 13th through the early morning of the 14th.

Zone 205: The Umiat SNOTEL gauge reported a net increase of over 5 inches in snow depth through the morning of the 13th...and it is expected that at least 6 inches fell elsewhere in the zone.| |Zone 206: The Atigun SNOTEL gauge noted a net increase of 6 inches in snow depth from the morning of the 12th through the early afternoon of the 13th.

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 May 11, 2:16 PM AKST, 13 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 11, 2:16 PM AKST, 13 hours before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
316 PM AKDT SAT MAY 11 2013

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS FAIRLY CONSISTENT THROUGH 36 HOURS AND THEN IT BEGINS TO
DIVERGE A LITTLE. THE ECMWF TAKE A MORE NORTHERN TRACK STARTING
SUN NIGHT. THE MODELS DIFFER ON THE LOW MOVING EAST IN THE
NORTHERN PACIFIC SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS AFTER 36 HOURS WITH THE
NAM GOING NORTH...GFS GOING SOUTH AND THE ECMWF GOING EASTWARD IN
THE MIDDLE OF THE OTHER 2 MODEL TRACKS.

THE PROBLEMS THAT ARE GOING TO NEED TO BE LOOKED AT MORE IN DEPTH
ARE THE AMOUNTS OF SNOW THAT WILL LIKELY FALL ON THE NORTHERN
SLOPES OF THE BROOKS RANGE AND OVER THE EASTERN ALASKA RANGE.
WINTER STORM WATCHES ARE BEING ISSUED FOR THOSE AREAS FOR THE
POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SNOWFALL. SNOWFALL IN EXCESS OF 1 TO 2 FT ARE
POSSIBLE IN THE ALASKA RANGE AREA WHILE SNOWFALL NEAR 1 FT IS
POSSIBLE IN THE BROOKS RANGE PASSES.

ALL OF THE MODELS ARE HAVING TROUBLE MAKING ANY SPRING LIKE
TEMPERATURES OVER NORTHERN ALASKA ANYTIME SOON. CENTRAL ALASKA
ATTEMPTS TO SOAR TO JUST BELOW NORMAL BY THE END OF THE WEEK.
HOWEVER...THE GFS IS ATTEMPTING TO MAKE THE COLD PUSH A WEEKLY
EVENT AS ANOTHER COLD FRONT IS POISED TO STRIKE THE WEST COAST
NEXT WEEKEND.

ALTHOUGH THE MODELS DO NOT PUT THAT MUCH SURFACE WIND WITH THIS
STRONG COLD FRONT PUSHING ONTO THE ARCTIC COAST..IT IS LIKELY THAT
THE MODELS ARE UNDERDONE GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THE COLD ADVECTION.
EXPECT MANY AREAS OF SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW IN ZONES 205 AND 206
FROM SUN EVENING THROUGH MON NIGHT. BROOKS RANGE PASSES WILL
BECOME LIKELY IN A WHITEOUT STATE. MUCH COLDER AIR FOR AT LEAST
THE FIRST PART OF THE WEEK OVER ALL OF NORTHERN ALASKA AND WILL
PERSIST TO A LESSER DEGREE THROUGH THE WEEK.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...NONE.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...NONE.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER STORM WATCH FOR AKZ205-AKZ206-AKZ226.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230.
&&

CF MAY 13

Event by event

2 heavy snow, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R

When: May 12, 3:16 AM AKST to May 14, 12:16 AM AKST
Where: N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

Heavy Snow, N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W

When: May 12, 4:00 AM AKST to May 13, 10:00 PM AKST
Where: N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

Winter Storm, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: May 13, 7:53 PM AKST to May 14, 4:53 AM AKST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

Every storm in Alaska in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, May 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: 455078, 455081, 455080.