Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W
- When
- December 7, 8:39 PM AKST to December 10, 11:00 PM AKST
- Where
- N. Brooks Rng Colville Rvr W forecast zone
- Reported by
- RAWS
Extreme Cold in Alaska, December 7 to 10, 2014
It is likely that dangerous wind chill conditions occurred in passes of zone 205 during the 8th through the 10th, as the Howard Pass RAWS reached a wind chill of -82 before it stopped reporting wind speed on the 8th at 1539AKST.
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.
It is likely that dangerous wind chill conditions occurred in passes of zone 205 during the 8th through the 10th, as the Howard Pass RAWS reached a wind chill of -82 before it stopped reporting wind speed on the 8th at 1539AKST.
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 7, 1:01 PM AKST, 7 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 7, 1:01 PM AKST, 7 hours 38 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 101 PM AKST SUN DEC 7 2014 .DISCUSSION... MODELS INITIALIZED WELL ON SYSTEM LOCATION HOWEVER MOST OF THE MODELS OVERESTIMATED THE PRESSURE OF THE LOW IN THE NORTHERN GULF LOW BY ABOUT 2 MB AT 18Z THIS MORNING. TRACK OF THE FEATURE APPEARS TO BE GOOD HOWEVER AND THE MODELS EXHIBIT REASONABLE SPREAD IN THE SHORT TERM AND MID TERM AND EXPECTED AMOUNT OF SPREAD IN THE LONG TERM. STRONG RIDGE EXTENDS FROM THE WESTERN UNITED STATES AND CANADA AND EXTENDS INTO SOUTHEAST ALASKA AN UPPER LEVEL LOW SITS OVER THE NORTHERN GULF OF ALASKA. AN UPPER LEVEL HIGH WILL REMAIN PARKED NORTH WEST OF WRANGEL ISLAND THROUGH THE WEEK. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH DIGS SOUTHWEST OUT OF THE HIGH CANADIAN ARCTIC INTO NORTHERN ALASKA BY LATE WEEK AND WILL CONTINUE TO DIG SOUTH AND WEST INTO THE LOWER YK DELTA BY SATURDAY. ON THE SURFACE A 1042 MB HIGH WILL REMAIN PARKED NORTH OF SIBERIA WHILE A 959 MB LOW CURRENTLY LOCATED JUST SOUTHWEST OF KODIAK ISLAND RACES RAPIDLY TO THE NORTHWEST AND WILL BE LOCATED NEAR BRISTOL BAY MONDAY MORNING AS A 964 MB LOW. A VERY TIGHT GRADIENT SETS UP BETWEEN THE HIGH OVER SIBERIA AND THE LOW MOVING INTO THE SOUTHERN BERING SEA. HIGH WIND WARNINGS HAVE BEEN HOISTED FOR ST LAWRENCE ISLAND AS THE GRADIENT MOVES INTO THAT AREA TONIGHT. HIGH WIND WARNING ALSO IN EFFECT FOR ZONE 207 NORTH OF CAPE KRUSENSTERN TOMORROW AS TIGHT GRADIENT MOVES NORTH OF THE BERING STRAIT. STORM FORCE WINDS EXPECTED IN MARINE ZONE 225 TOMORROW. WIND ADVISORIES FOR ALSO IN PLAY FOR SUMMITS IN THE INTERIOR AS TIGHT GRADIENT MOVES INTO THE AREA. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES FOR BLOWING SNOW AND LOW WIND CHILLS ARE IN EFFECT FOR ZONES 205 AND FOR BLOWING SNOW THROUGH THE PASSES IN ZONE 206. COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE CONTINUE TO MONITOR NORTH SHORE OF ST LAWRENCE ISLAND FOR HIGH SURF POTENTIAL AND FREEZING SPRAY WITH STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS. MOMENTUM TRANSPORT IS EXPECTED TO LIMIT SURGE VALUES AND GUIDANCE CONFIRMS THIS NOTION...HOWEVER WILL NEED TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR FOR BREAKING WAVES HIGH WINDS AND BELOW FREEZING TEMPERATURES THAT CREATES THE POTENTIAL FOR FREEZING SPRAY NEAR THE NORTH SHORE. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ217-AKZ219-AKZ220-AKZ221. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ205-AKZ206. HIGH WIND WARNING FOR AKZ207-AKZ213. HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225. STORM WARNING FOR PKZ225. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ230. && CCC DEC 14
Event by event
1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
- Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
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: 552902.