Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- January 9, 6:35 PM AKST to January 10, 12:01 AM AKST
- Where
- Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, January 9 to 10, 2014
A low pressure center moving south over the far western Canadian arctic waters produced a period of strong west winds, likely resulting in blizzard conditions at Kaktovik on the evening of the 9th, as reported by the Barter Island AWOS. The wind gusted as high as 50 kt (58 mph) during this time.
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 center moving south over the far western Canadian arctic waters produced a period of strong west winds, likely resulting in blizzard conditions at Kaktovik on the evening of the 9th, as reported by the Barter Island AWOS. The wind gusted as high as 50 kt (58 mph) 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 Jan 9, 12:48 PM AKST, 5 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 9, 12:48 PM AKST, 5 hours 47 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 1248 PM AKST THU JAN 9 2014 .DISCUSSION... A COLD UPPER LOW NORTH OF BANKS ISLAND IS PROGGED BY CURRENT MODELS TO WOBBLE AROUND CYCLONICALLY OVER THE WESTERN CANADA ARCHIPELAGO AND EASTERN BEAUFORT SEA INTO THE WEEKEND. SEVERAL WEAK UPPER TROUGHS MOVING AROUND THE UPPER LOW WILL SPREAD THE COLD AIR SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE NORTHERN ALASKA MAINLAND THROUGH THE WEEKEND. BY SUN...850 MB TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE COLDER THAN -20C OVER MUCH OF THE NORTHERN ALASKA MAINLAND. COLDER SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED OVER MUCH OF THE INTERIOR AS CLOUD COVER SLOWLY DECREASES FROM THE NORTH. BY SAT NIGHT...LOWS IN THE 30S BELOW OR COLDER ARE EXPECTED OVER MUCH OF THE INTERIOR. THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY OCCUR IN THE UPPER YUKON VALLEY AND SOUTHEASTERN BROOKS RANGE... WHERE LOWS IN THE 40S BELOW AND LOCALLY AROUND 50 BELOW WILL BE POSSIBLE. WINDS ARE GRADUALLY PICKING UP IN ZONES 203 AND 204...WIND CHILL EXPECTED TO DROP TO AROUND 50 BELOW TONIGHT AND FRI. NORTHEAST GALES OVER PKZ225 AND THE OUTER WATERS OF PKZ220 ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE LATER TONIGHT AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WEAKENS SOME. NORTHEAST GALES ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TONIGHT AND FRI IN PKZ210 FROM THE BERING STRAIT TO ST LAWRENCE ISLAND AND SOUTHWARD...WITH LOWER WIND SPEEDS IN AREAS TO THE EAST. LIGHT OVERRUNNING SNOW CONTINUING OVER THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE WEST COAST AND WESTERN INTERIOR TONIGHT... AND OVER THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF THESE AREAS FRI. 12-HR SNOW AMOUNTS IN THESE AREAS TONIGHT AND FRI EXPECTED TO BE LESS THAN 1 INCH. SNOWFALL GRADUALLY DECREASING FROM THE NORTH FRI. LIGHT SNOW CONTINUING IN THE ALASKA RANGE AND SOUTHEAST INTERIOR TONIGHT AND FRI...TOTAL AMOUNTS UP TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE IN PARTS OF ZONES 224 AND 226. SNOWFALL GRADUALLY DECREASING FROM THE NORTH FRI. COLD AIR IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN PLACE OVER MUCH OF THE NORTHERN ALASKA MAINLAND THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. CURRENT GFS/ECMWF RUNS INDICATE SOME MODERATION IN THE SOUTHERN INTERIOR LATER NEXT WEEK AS MILDER AIR PUSHES NORTHWARD OUT OF THE GULF OF ALASKA. COLD AIR WILL LIKELY REMAIN IN PLACE OVER THE NORTHERN INTERIOR AND ARCTIC SLOPE. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR AKZ203-AKZ204. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ245. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ240. && RF JAN 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
- Flash Flood in Florida, January 9 to 11, 2014
- Cold in Illinois, January 9, 2014
- Cold in Minnesota, January 9 to 10, 2014
- Debris Flow and Strong Wind in Washington, January 9 to 11, 2014
- Flooding in Florida, January 9, 2014
- Damaging Wind in Florida, January 9, 2014
- High Wind in Wyoming, January 9 to 13, 2014
- High Wind in Montana, January 9 to 11, 2014
- Avalanche in Wyoming, January 9 to 10, 2014
- Winter Storm in Wyoming, January 9 to 11, 2014
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Colorado, January 9 to 11, 2014
- Winter Storm in Utah, January 9 to 10, 2014
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: 496531.