Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- February 11, 1:15 AM AKST to 11:00 AM AKST
- Where
- Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, February 11, 2014
A low pressure system with a moderate cold front tracked east across the Beaufort Sea on the morning of the 11th and likely brought blizzard conditions to Kaktovik, as reported by the AWOS at Barter Island, where the visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile during the morning hours.
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 low pressure system with a moderate cold front tracked east across the Beaufort Sea on the morning of the 11th and likely brought blizzard conditions to Kaktovik, as reported by the AWOS at Barter Island, where the visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile during the morning hours.
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 Feb 10, 2:35 PM AKST, 10 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 10, 2:35 PM AKST, 10 hours 40 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 235 PM AKST MON FEB 10 2014 .DISCUSSION... ALOFT...STRONG RIDGE COVERING THE NORTH BERING SEA AND NORTHERN ALASKA WILL RETROGRADE AS A DEEP LOW OVER THE HIGH ARCTIC MOVES SOUTH TO THE NORTHERN ALASKA PENINSULA THU AM. THIS LOW WILL BRING ANOTHER DOSE OF SOMEWHAT COLDER AIR SOUTH OVER THE FORECAST AREA. WHILE SOUTHERLY FLOW DEVELOPS ON THU OVER THE ALASKA RANGE DUE TO THE POSITION OF THE LOW...THERE WILL BE LITTLE CHANGE TO THE AIRMASS OVER THE SOUTHERN INTERIOR AS THE FLOW WILL BE EMBEDDED AROUND THE COLD LOW ALOFT. SURFACE...WEAK COLD FRONT FROM BARROW TO CAPE LISBURNE WILL MOVE TO BARTER ISLAND TO KOTZEBUE TO THE BERING STRAIT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THEN TO FORT YUKON TO MCGRATH AND SOUTHWARD AT 9AM TUE. THE OCCLUSION WILL THEN DRIFT EAST TO FORT YUKON TO DENALI PARK WED AM AND DISSIPATE. SNOW WILL SPREAD EAST AND SOUTH ACROSS THE NORTH SLOPE WITH UP TO AN INCH ACCUMULATION ON THE COAST AND COASTAL PLAIN BUT UP TO 3 INCHES OVER THE MOUNTAINS. SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL SWITCH TO NORTHWEST TO 25 MPH AND PRODUCE BLOWING SNOW WITH AND BEHIND THE FRONT. A PERIOD OF LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED WITH THE FRONT OVER THE WEST COAST NORTH OF THE BERING STRAIT TONIGHT WITH WINDS BECOMING NORTHWEST TO 25 MPH AND AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. AS THE FRONT PROGRESSES SOUTHEAST INTO THE INTERIOR SNOWFALL WILL BE SPOTTY AND BE MOST LIKELY WEST OF FAIRBANKS AND FORT YUKON AS THE FRONT HANGS UP JUST TO THE WEST BEFORE DISSIPATING. A STRONGER COLD FRONT...ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER LOW...WILL MOVE FROM THE THE HIGH ARCTIC SOUTH TO BARROW AROUND 6AM TUE AND THEN TO BARTER ISLAND TO KIVALINA 3PM TUE...TO BARTER ISLAND TO BETTLES TO UNALAKLEET 3AM WED...AND FROM INUVIK CANADA TO TALKEETNA 3PM WED. ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE NORTH SLOPE WITH THIS FEATURE...PROBABLY A BIT LESS THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE. AND SOME SPOTTY SNOW WILL MOVE SOUTH OF THE BROOKS RANGE MAINLY DEVELOPING BETWEEN AMBLER AND FORT YUKON...SOUTH TO GALENA TO NEAR FAIRBANKS. OF PARTICULAR NOTE WILL BE COLDER TEMPERATURES AS 850 MB READINGS DROP ABOUT 5 DEGREES FROM THE CURRENT VALUES. COMPLICATING THE LOW TEMPERATURE FORECAST WILL BE THE CLOUDS BROUGHT IN BY THE FRONT AND KEPT SWIRLING AROUND AT LEAST THE INTERIOR AS THE UPPER LOW TREKS SOUTH...NONETHELESS TEMPERATURES WILL STILL COOL DESPITE THE CLOUDS. GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH BLOWING SNOW ARE EXPECTED IN BROOKS RANGE PASSES AND THIS IS ONE AREA TO MONITOR IN THE EVENT CONDITIONS MOVE INTO ADVISORY LEVELS. MODELS...AGREE PRETTY WELL IN THE SHORT TERM WITH THE MAIN FEATURES...THOUGH THE NAM DOES NOT BRING ENOUGH COLD AIR SOUTH WITH THE UPPER LOW...OR AT LEAST AS WIDE OF AN AREA OF COLDER TEMPERATURES. THIS IS EXPECTED BY THE NAM WHEN THERE IS NORTH FLOW OVER THE AREA. IN THE MEDIUM TERM THE ECMWF INDICATES MORE SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW SETTING UP OVER NORTHERN ALASKA WHILE THE GFS RETAINS A WEAK FLOW AND COLDER TEMPERATURES OVER THE AREA. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ240- PKZ245. && JL FEB 14
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
- Winter Weather in Texas, February 11, 2014
- Avalanche in Oregon, February 11, 2014
- Winter Storm in South Carolina, February 11 to 13, 2014
- Ice Storm and Winter Storm in Georgia, February 11 to 13, 2014
- Winter Storm in North Carolina, February 11 to 13, 2014
- Ice Storm in Mississippi, February 11 to 12, 2014
- Ice Storm and Hail in Louisiana, February 11 to 12, 2014
- Ice Storm and Winter Storm in Alabama, February 11 to 13, 2014
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 11, 2014
- Winter Weather in Texas, February 11 to 12, 2014
- Avalanche and Heavy Snow in Washington, February 11 to 12, 2014
- Winter Storm in Louisiana, February 11 to 12, 2014
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 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: 496725.