Alaska, 2014

Blizzard in Alaska, January 11 to 12, 2014

January 11 to 12, 2014 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

With a low near Banks island, a weather front moving south over the western Canadian Arctic waters and the Beaufort Sea likely created several periods of Blizzard conditions at Kaktovik, as reported by the Barter Island AWOS. These low conditions occurred on teh afternoon of the 11th and the morning of the 12th.

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.

With a low near Banks island, a weather front moving south over the western Canadian Arctic waters and the Beaufort Sea likely created several periods of Blizzard conditions at Kaktovik, as reported by the Barter Island AWOS. These low conditions occurred on teh afternoon of the 11th and the morning of the 12th.

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 Jan 11, 5:13 AM AKST, 7 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 11, 5:13 AM AKST, 7 hours 31 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
513 AM AKST SAT JAN 11 2014

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH 60 HOURS. COLD UPPER LEVEL LOW
NEAR BANKS ISLAND WILL CONTINUE TO PUMP COLD AIR DOWN INTO
NORTHERN ALASKA THROUGH SUN. A LOW IN THE BERING SEA WILL CONTINUE
TO MOVE EASTWARD. THE ASSOCIATED OCCLUDED FRONT WILL MOVE NORTH
OVER THE CENTRAL INTERIOR MON. THE CURRENT THINKING IS THAT THE
PERIOD OF COLD TEMPERATURES OVER THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE STATE
WILL WILL MODERATE MUCH SOONER WITH THE INFLUX OF CLOUDS AND
POSSIBLE LIGHT SNOWFALL.

SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL DEVELOP OVER THE NORTHERN INTERIOR SOUTH OF
THE BROOKS RANGE. THIS WILL LIKELY MOVE CLOUDS AND LIGHT
SNOW AS WELL AS WARMER AIR FROM THE SOUTHWEST INTO THE AREA
BEGINNING MON. THESE CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY PERSIST THROUGHOUT THE
REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. ANOTHER WAVE WILL MOVE UP OVER THE EASTERN
ND CENTRAL INTERIOR ON WED WHICH MAY PRODUCE MORE LIGHT SNOW OVER
THE AREA.

SURFACE TROUGH MOVING SOUTHWARD BEHIND THE SURFACE LOW WHICH IS
LOCATED NEAR BANKS ISLAND WILL CONTRIBUTE SNOWFALL OVER THE ARCTIC
COAST TODAY. WINDS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE EASTERN ARCTIC WILL KEEP
VISIBILITY DOWN TO BELOW ONE MILE FOR MUCH OF THE DAY.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ203.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ204.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ240-PKZ245.
&&

CF JAN 14

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast

When
January 11, 12:44 PM AKST to January 12, 9:15 AM 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

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 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: 496532.