Ice Storm, Lower Yukon Valley
- When
- December 28, 1:56 AM AKST to December 30, 12:56 AM AKST
- Where
- Lower Yukon Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWSS
Ice Storm and Heavy Snow in Alaska, December 28 to 30, 2014
A low pressure moving from the north Pacific Ocean across the far western Alaska Peninsula into Bristol Bay brought a flow of moist air over southwest Alaska on the 28th through 30th. 23 inches of rain from the early morning of the 28th through the early morning of the 30th.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 low pressure moving from the north Pacific Ocean across the far western Alaska Peninsula into Bristol Bay brought a flow of moist air over southwest Alaska on the 28th through 30th. Anvik reported 8 inches of new snow by the afternoon of the 29th, while farther to the south the Holy Cross AWOS reported a total of 0.23 inches of rain from the early morning of the 28th through the early morning of the 30th. The Russian Mission AWOS and Shageluk AWOS each reported less than one tenth of an inch during this time.
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 Dec 27, 12:43 PM AKST, 13 hours 13 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 27, 12:43 PM AKST, 13 hours 13 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 1243 PM AKST SAT DEC 27 2014 .DISCUSSION... UPPER AIR... UPPER LEVEL RIDGE EXTENDING FROM WRANGEL ISLAND TO THE KENAI PENINSULA AND SOUTHEASTWARD WILL MOVE EAST TO LIE ALONG THE ALCAN BORDER AND SOUTHWARD BY SUN AFTERNOON. LOW AMPLITUDE SHORT WAVE TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS THE EASTERN BERING SEA TONIGHT...AND ACROSS NORTHWEST ALASKA AND THE CHUKCHI SEA SUN...THEN CURVING EASTWARD ACROSS THE ARCTIC OCEAN SUN NIGHT INTO MON...GRADUALLY INTENSIFYING DURING THE PERIOD. THE SHORT WAVE WILL FLATTEN THE TOP OF THE UPPER RIDGE...RIDGE AXIS MOVING INTO THE ALCAN BORDER SUN NIGHT. ANOTHER RIDGE WILL REBUILD OVER ALASKA BY MON NIGHT WITH THE AXIS EXTENDING FROM NORTHWEST ALASKA SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE PANHANDLE. ANOTHER SHORT WAVE WILL MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS THE BERING SEA AND WEST COAST TUE INTO WED. SURFACE... OCCLUDED FRONT HAS MOVED NORTH OF ST LAWRENCE ISLAND AND WILL BE MOVING NORTHWARD AND STRETCHING A BIT EASTWARD ACROSS THE WEST COAST THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A WAVE NORTH OF THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS WILL MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS THE EASTERN BERING SEA...DEVELOPING INTO A 998 MB LOW NEAR THE CHUKOTSK PEN BY SUN MORNING. THIS LOW WILL MOVE NORTHWARD INTO THE CHUKCHI SEA BY SUN EVENING...THEN CURVE ACROSS THE ARCTIC OCEAN THROUGH MON WITH LITTLE CHANGE IN INTENSITY. ANOTHER LOW WILL MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS THE EASTERN BERING SEA MON NIGHT AND TUE. GOES IR LOOP SHOWING A STRONG MOISTURE FEED NORTHWARD ACROSS THE WEST AND SOUTHERN AREAS OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR. THE NORTHWARD MOVING FRONT WILL PRODUCE SNOW OVER THE THE SOUTHERN WEST COAST AREAS TONIGHT...SPREADING TO THE NORTHERN WEST COAST AREAS SUN. SNOW DEVELOPING OVER THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR SUN MORNING AND SPREADING OVER MOST OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR SUN. SNOW CONTINUING REDEVELOPING OVER THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE WEST COAST SUN NIGHT. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN ZONE 209... ESPECIALLY AT KOTZEBUE...AND LOCAL BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN ZONE 207...AS THE NORTHWARD MOVING SURFACE SYSTEM TIGHTENS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE NORTHERN WEST COAST. AIR MASS TEMPERATURES WILL BE WARM ENOUGH FOR THE PRECIPITATION TO BE MIXED IN PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN WEST COAST AND SOUTHWEST INTERIOR. STRONG SOUTHERLY CHINOOK WINDS WILL DEVELOP IN ALASKA RANGE PASSES SUN MORNING AND CONTINUE AT LEAST INTO MONDAY NIGHT. HIGH WIND WARNINGS WILL BE POSTED FOR THE ALASKA RANGE PASSES. ADVISORY LEVEL WIND GUSTS ARE EXPECTED IN AREAS NEAR DELTA JUNCTION. STRONG GUSTY SOUTH WINDS DEVELOPING IN BROOKS RANGE PASSES LATE TONIGHT CONTINUING THROUGH SUN NIGHT. BLOWING SNOW IN PASSES MAY CAUSE LOW VISIBILITY. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES WILL BE POSTED FOR THE BROOKS RANGE PASSES. BRISK EAST WINDS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE ARCTIC COAST AND OFF SHORE AREAS TONIGHT AS A SURFACE HIGH OVER NORTHEAST ALASKA SHIFTS EASTWARD INTO THE YUKON TERRITORY. BRISK WINDS WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT TO SOUTHWEST AS THE SURFACE LOW TRACKS EASTWARD ACROSS THE ARCTIC COAST. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ217-AKZ223. HIGH WIND WARNING FOR AKZ225-AKZ226-AKZ227. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ207-AKZ210-AKZ211-AKZ212-AKZ213- AKZ215-AKZ216. BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ209. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ205-AKZ206. HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING FOR PKZ210. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ230-PKZ235. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ230- PKZ235-PKZ240-PKZ245. && RF DEC 14
Event by event
1 ice storm, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Lower Yukon Valley
- When
- December 28, 11:16 AM AKST to December 29, 6:36 AM AKST
- Where
- Lower Yukon Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- Tribal Official
What these are
- Ice Storm
- Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2014
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: 554953, 554952.