Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, November 19 to 21, 2014

Name: Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, November 19 to 21, 2014
Start: 2014-11-19T18:53
End: 2014-11-21T05:53
Location: Alaska

November 19 to 21, 2014 · NWS AFG · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 strong pressure gradient developed between a 1028 mb high pressure center over the eastern Arctic and a 961 mb low pressure center 150 nautical miles southwest of Kodiak Island on 21st of November. a weather front moved north over the interior and North Slope during this time. High winds occurred over some interior summits, and blizzard conditions with local high winds occurred on the North Slope.

Zone 203: Blizzard conditions were reported at Deadhorse and Kuparuk. Wind gusts at the Deadhorse ASOS reached 58 mph (50 kt).

Zone 204: Blizzard conditions were likely at Point Thompson. The AWOS there reported wind gusts reached 63 mph (55 kt).

Zone 219: The Indian Mountain AWOS reported a gust of 53 kt ( 61 mph). |, and at Deadhorse and Kuparuk in zone 203.

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 Nov 19, 4:52 PM AKST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 19, 4:52 PM AKST, 2 hours 1 minute before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
452 PM AKST WED NOV 19 2014

.DISCUSSION...
A BROAD UPPER LEVEL LOW COMPLEX OVER THE BERING SEA WILL WOBBLE
AROUND OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AND EVENTUALLY MIGRATE EAST
TOWARD THE GULF OF ALASKA BY THE WEEKEND. MEANWHILE...HIGH
PRESSURE ALOFT WILL PERSIST OVER THE ARCTIC OCEAN. COLDER AIR
ALOFT WILL GRADUALLY TRICKLE IN FROM THE NORTHEAST ACROSS THE
STATE ALLOWING TEMPERATURES TO FALL TO NEAR NORMAL LEVELS OVER
THE WEEKEND. SNOWFALL WILL BE SPARSE OVER THE FORECAST AREA WITH
MOST AREAS REMAINING GENERALLY DRY BUT THERE IS A GLIMMER OF HOPE
FOR A SNOWIER PATTERN NEXT WEEK.

AT THE SURFACE...THE WEATHER FRONT THAT MOVED NORTH ACROSS THE
STATE THE PAST 24 HOURS IS NOW STRETCHED FROM THE BERING STRAIT TO
THE NORTH SLOPE. THE FRONT WILL LINGER AND EVENTUALLY DISSIPATE
OVER THE NORTH SLOPE THURSDAY EVENING AS A SURFACE HIGH BUILDS
SOUTHWARD INTO THE YUKON AND NORTHWEST TERRITORIES. LOW PRESSURE
SPINNING UP IN THE NORTH PACIFIC WILL MOVE NORTH INTO BRISTOL BAY
THURSDAY NIGHT AS A 957 MB LOW. THIS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY TIGHTEN
THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE INTERIOR THURSDAY NIGHT
THROUGH SATURDAY.

NORTH SLOPE...STRONG EAST WINDS GUSTING FROM 35 TO 50 MPH EAST OF
BARROW WILL PERSIST FOR SEVERAL DAYS. SNOWFALL ASSOCIATED WITH THE
FRONT DRAPED ACROSS THE NORTH SLOPE WILL SPREAD INTO THE ARCTIC
COAST BY THIS EVENING. THIS COMBINED WITH THE STRONG WINDS WILL
RESULT IN BLIZZARD CONDITIONS EAST OF BARROW...WITH LOW
VISIBILITY IN BLOWING SNOW IN BARROW AS WELL THROUGH THURSDAY.
SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOWFALL ARE EXPECTED IN THE BROOKS RANGE EAST
OF THE DALTON HIGHWAY BEFORE THE FRONT DISSIPATES.

WESTERN ALASKA...SNOW AND MIXED RAIN AND SNOW WILL DIMINISH
OVERNIGHT AS THE WEATHER FRONT PUSHES WEST. MOSTLY CLOUDY TO
CLOUDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED INTO THE WEEKEND WITH A CHANCE FOR
SNOW OVER THE LOWER YUKON VALLEY THURSDAY NIGHT A THE SURFACE LOW
MENTIONED ABOVE MOVES INTO BRISTOL BAY.

INTERIOR...RELATIVELY QUIET WITH GRADUALLY COOLING TEMPERATURES.
NORTHEAST WINDS WILL PICK UP OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND USUAL
CHANNELED AREAS THURSDAY NIGHT AND PERSIST INTO SATURDAY. MODELS
ARE HINTING AT THE POSSIBILITY OF A LITTLE SNOW IN THE EASTERN
INTERIOR...INCLUDING FAIRBANKS...SATURDAY NIGHT AS A WEAK
DISTURBANCE MOVES FROM THE NORTHEAST GULF OF ALASKA NORTH ALONG
THE ALCAN BORDER...FINGERS CROSSED.

COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ203-AKZ204.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ202.

HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING FOR PKZ230.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ240-PKZ245.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-
PKZ230.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ235.
&&

EWP NOV 14
AFG-397171

Event by event

3 blizzard, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: November 19, 6:53 PM AKST to November 20, 9:20 AM AKST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast

When: November 20, 1:15 AM AKST to November 21, 1:55 AM AKST
Where: Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Blizzard, Central Beaufort Sea Coast

When: November 20, 9:17 PM AKST to November 21, 5:53 AM AKST
Where: Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

High Wind, Upper Koyukuk Valley

When: November 21, 12:22 AM AKST to 5:00 AM AKST
Where: Upper Koyukuk Valley forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
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.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, November 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: 547676, 547673, 547677, 547683.