Blizzard, Central Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- December 30, 1:58 PM AKST to December 31, 12:53 PM AKST
- Where
- Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
Blizzard in Alaska, December 30 to 31, 2014
A 999 mb low near Kotzebue on the 30th coupled with a strong 1042 mb high pressure center over the high arctic created a strong pressure gradient, providing strong winds and blizzard conditions along the eastern north slope during the day of the 30th of December and lingering into the 31st. Zone 201: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Wainwright ASOS.
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 999 mb low near Kotzebue on the 30th coupled with a strong 1042 mb high pressure center over the high arctic created a strong pressure gradient, providing strong winds and blizzard conditions along the eastern north slope during the day of the 30th of December and lingering into the 31st.
Zone 201: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Wainwright ASOS. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow.
Zone 203: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Nuiqsut ASOS. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow.
Zone 204: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Point Thompson AWOS. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust of 53 kt (61 mph) at the Point Thompson AWOS.
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 30, 1:16 PM AKST, 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 30, 1:16 PM AKST, 42 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 116 PM AKST TUE DEC 30 2014 .DISCUSSION... UPPER AIR... RIDGE CURRENTLY EXTENDS FROM AROUND 75N/175E TO THE PANHANDLE AND SOUTHEASTWARD. IT WILL WEAKEN SUBSTANTIALLY BY WED MORNING AS A SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVING UP THE WEST COAST PUNCHES THROUGH THE TOP OF THE RIDGE. THE SHORT WAVE TROUGH AXIS CURRENTLY EXTENDS FROM NEAR ST MATTHEW ISLAND EASTWARD TO THE WEST COAST. THE WAVE WILL MOVE NORTHWARD TO THE CHUKOTSK PENINSULA BY WED MORNING...MORPHING INTO A WEAK CLOSED LOW CENTER. THIS LOW WILL MOVE TO NORTHWEST ALASKA BY WED EVENING...THEN DISSIPATE. AN UPPER RIDGE OVER THE WESTERN BERING SEA WILL BUILD SOME AS IT MOVES EASTWARD TO THE EASTERN BERING SEA BY WED EVENING. A HIGH CENTER WILL SPLIT OFF FROM THE RIDGE LATE WED NIGHT WITH THE CENTER OVER THE CHUKOTSK PENINSULA. THE HIGH CENTER WILL BECOME MORE EXPANSIVE AS THE CENTER MOVES EASTWARD TO NEAR 73N/155W BY LATE THU NIGHT. STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW ACROSS THE ALASKA RANGE WILL DECREASE RAPIDLY AND BECOME SOUTHWESTERLY LATER TONIGHT. AFTER THE INITIAL RIDGE WEAKENS...TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL COOL TO NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS BY LATE IN THE WEEK. OVER THE WEEKEND...THE HIGH PRESSURE CENTER WILL DRIFT SLOWLY SOUTHWARD TO BE PREDOMINANT OVER THE NORTHERN ALASKA MAINLAND THROUGH THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH TEMPERATURES ALOFT WARMING SLIGHTLY. SURFACE... 986 MB LOW CENTERED ABOUT 100 MILES WEST OF NUNIVAK ISLAND AT 18Z THIS MORNING WILL MOVE TO NEAR CAPE LISBURNE BY WED EVENING...FILLING TO AROUND 1012 MB. 1042 MB HIGH CENTERED NEAR 78N/160W WILL DRIFT SOUTHEASTWARD TO THE NORTHERN YUKON TERRITORY BY LATE THU NIGHT. STRONG CHINOOK WINDS IN THE ALASKA RANGE ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE LATER TONIGHT AS THE STRONG FLOW ALOFT DECREASES AND THE LEESIDE SURFACE TROUGH NORTH OF THE ALASKA RANGE DISSIPATES. POTENTIAL FOR FREEZING RAIN IN THE WESTERN INTERIOR WILL END BY LATE TONIGHT AS TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER LEVELS COOL TO ENTIRELY BELOW FREEZING. SNOW WILL DEVELOP IN AREAS OF THE CENTRAL INTERIOR THIS EVENING...SPREADING TO THE NORTHERN INTERIOR AND PARTS OF THE EASTERN INTERIOR...CENTRAL AND EASTERN BROOKS RANGE... AND MOST OF THE ARCTIC SLOPE LATER TONIGHT. THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF RAPIDLY FROM THE SOUTHWEST WED AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IN THE FAIRBANKS AREA...LOOKING FOR A CHANCE OF FREEZING RAIN TONIGHT...BEST CHANCE APPEARS TO BE IN THE EVENING WHEN THERE IS STILL A SUBSTANTIAL ABOVE FREEZING LAYER....MODEL SOUNDINGS INDICATING LOWER LEVEL TEMPERATURES WILL ALMOST TOTALLY BELOW FREEZING BY WED MORNING...COOLING TO WELL BELOW FREEZING WED NIGHT AND THU. EASTERLY GALES WITH LOCAL BLIZZARD CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO EXPAND OVER THE ARCTIC COAST TONIGHT...CONTINUING OVER THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN PARTS OF THE ARCTIC COAST THROUGH WED. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ223. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ201-AKZ202-AKZ203-AKZ204-AKZ206- AKZ215-AKZ216. HIGH WIND WARNING FOR AKZ225-AKZ226-AKZ227. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ230-PKZ235-PKZ240-PKZ245. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ235- PKZ240-PKZ245. && DEC 14
Event by event
3 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast
- When
- December 30, 1:58 PM AKST to December 31, 11:53 PM AKST
- Where
- Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- December 31, 6:35 AM AKST to 11:35 PM AKST
- Where
- Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
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
- High Wind and Strong Wind in California, December 30 to 31, 2014
- Winter Weather and Cold in Nevada, December 30 to 31, 2014
- Winter Weather in Texas, December 30 to 31, 2014
- High Wind and Strong Wind in California, December 30 to 31, 2014
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Arizona, December 30 to 31, 2014
- Lake-Effect Snow in New York, December 30 to 31, 2014
- Heavy Snow in Arizona, December 30 to 31, 2014
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in California, December 30 to 31, 2014
- Heavy Snow and Strong Wind in California, December 30 to 31, 2014
- Winter Storm in Texas, December 30 to 31, 2014
- Ice Storm and Winter Weather in Texas, December 30 to 31, 2014
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, December 30 to 31, 2014
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: 553956, 553957, 553955.