Heavy Snow, N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R
- When
- May 17, 12:00 PM AKST to May 18, 6:00 AM AKST
- Where
- N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R forecast zone
- Reported by
- SNOTEL
Heavy Snow in Alaska, May 17 to 18, 2014
Several cold fronts moved east across the eastern Brooks Range on the 17th producing snowfall amounts of approximately 7 inches by the early morning of the 18th, according to the SNOTEL gauges at Imnaviate Creek and Atigun Pass.
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.
Several cold fronts moved east across the eastern Brooks Range on the 17th producing snowfall amounts of approximately 7 inches by the early morning of the 18th, according to the SNOTEL gauges at Imnaviate Creek and Atigun Pass.
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 May 17, 5:43 AM AKST, 6 hours 17 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 17, 5:43 AM AKST, 6 hours 17 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 643 AM AKDT SAT MAY 17 2014 .DISCUSSION... THE 1008 MB LOW NORTH OF WAINWRIGHT WILL MOVE EAST TO BE ABOUT 60 MILES EAST OF BARROW AT 4 PM...THEN TURN NORTHEAST AND BECOME DIFFUSE OVER THE SOUTHERN BEAUFORT SEA TONIGHT. THE COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LOW LIES JUST OFF THE WESTERN ARCTIC COAST. IT WILL MOVE RAPIDLY EAST TODAY TO LIE FROM ABOUT PRUDHOE BAY TO ATIGUN PASS TO BETHEL AT 4 PM...AND FROM DEMARCATION POINT TO NEAR TOK AT 4 AM SUNDAY. THIS FRONT IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE CONSIDERABLE SNOWFALL OVER ZONES 203... 204...AND 206...AND WILL BE HEAVIEST OVER HIGHER TERRAIN IN ZONE 206 TONIGHT. WE ALSO EXPECT MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION OVER MOST OF THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN INTERIOR TONIGHT... AND SUBSTANTIAL RAIN IS ALSO LIKELY THE EASTERN ALASKA RANGE (ZONE 226) LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY. THE PASSAGE OF THIS FRONT HERALDS THE REGIME CHANGE THAT WE HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING RECENTLY. OUR LATEST WEATHER SYSTEM IS DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT FROM ITS PREDECESSORS...THE SUPPORT ALOFT IS MUCH STRONGER. THE MID RANGE MODELS NOW AGREE ON DROPPING THE CENTER ALOFT SOUTHWARD OVER MAINLAND ALASKA THOUGH THEY DIFFER ON THE DETAILS. && .FIRE WEATHER... WINDS WILL PICK UP IN THE EASTERN INTERIOR AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON...BUT WE EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO BE A BIT COOLER AND WINDS NOT QUITE AS STRONG. CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY APPROACH BUT NOT MEET RED FLAG CRITERIA. && .HYDROLOGY... && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ206. && DJH MAY 14
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Oregon, May 17, 2014
- Damaging Wind in Vermont, May 17, 2014
- Flooding in New Hampshire, May 17, 2014
- Flooding in Maine, May 17 to 18, 2014
- Hail in Wyoming, May 17, 2014
- Flash Flood in Massachusetts, May 17, 2014
- High Wind in New Mexico, May 17, 2014
- Coastal Flood in District of Columbia, May 17 to 18, 2014
- Flood in Maine, May 17, 2014
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, May 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: 523388.