Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast
- When
- February 17, 11:16 AM AKST to 2:16 PM AKST
- Where
- Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, February 17, 2015
A 986 mb low pressure center near Nunivak Island along with the associated occluded front pushed northeast towards Saint Lawrence Island during the morning hours of the 17th of February 2015. This low produced strong northeast winds along with snow and blowing snow creating blizzard conditions for Saint Lawrence Island during the afternoon of the 17th of February.
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 986 mb low pressure center near Nunivak Island along with the associated occluded front pushed northeast towards Saint Lawrence Island during the morning hours of the 17th of February 2015. This low produced strong northeast winds along with snow and blowing snow creating blizzard conditions for Saint Lawrence Island during the afternoon of the 17th of February.
Zone 213: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Gambell AWOS. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust of 35 kt (40 mph) at the Gambell AWOS.
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 17, 5:07 AM AKST, 6 hours 9 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 17, 5:07 AM AKST, 6 hours 9 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 507 AM AKST TUE FEB 17 2015 .DISCUSSION... MODELS ARE SIMILAR THROUGH ABOUT 48 HOURS IN TERMS OF UPPER LEVEL FEATURES AND MOVEMENTS. MODELS DIFFER VASTLY ON SURFACE FEATURES. BELIEVE THE GFS AND NAM ARE A LITTLE MORE IN LINE WITH WHAT THE CONVENTIONAL THINKING IS HERE. THE ECMWF IS MISSING MANY OF THE LOCAL TERRAIN EFFECTS FOR THE PRECIPITATION DEPOSITORY ON PROPOSED AREAS ALONG THE WEST COAST AND WESTERN INTERIOR. BELIEVE THE HOT SPOTS FOR PRECIPITATION DUMPING FOR THIS CURRENT SCENARIO WOULD BE IN THE NULATO HILLS AND THE UPSLOPE AREAS OF THE SEWARD PENINSULAS AS WELL AS THE UPSLOPE AREAS IN THE WESTERN BROOKS RANGE. SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW WILL LIKELY FALL IN THESE AREAS. UPPER LEVEL GRADIENT IS LOOSING ITS GRIP ON THE INTERIOR OF ALASKA. HENCE THE HIGH WIND WARNINGS HAVE BEEN CANCELED AS WELL AS THE NUMEROUS ADVISORIES. THE PINCH IN THE NORTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE STATE THIS MORNING SEEMS TO BE THE BIGGEST CONCERN IN THE ARCTIC TODAY. AN ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA DUE TO MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE THREAT OF FALLING SNOW LATER IN THE DAY. THIS COMBINED WITH THE WIND COULD MARKEDLY DECREASE THE THE VISIBILITY IN THIS AREA. THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS OF PRECIPITATION SEEMS POISED TO FIREHOSE THE WEST COAST WITH AMPLE AMOUNTS OF SNOWFALL THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR SOME AREAS. THE PATH TO WATCH HERE IS THAT THE GFS TAKES THE UPPER LEVEL LOW AND BRINGS IT RIGHT THROUGH THE BERING...THROUGH THE SEWARD PENINSULA AND THEN JUST OVER NOATAK. THIS IS A PERFECT SET UP FOR COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF SNOWFALL OVER THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE SOUTHERN SLOPES OF THE BROOKS RANGE. GIVEN THE TRACK AND TRAJECTORY OF THE MOISTURE FLOW...FEEL THAT THE SNOWFALL MAY BE GREATER THAN WE REALIZE AT THIS POINT IF THE UPPER LOW JUST MOVES SLIGHTLY WESTWARD. BY THE END OF THE WEEK...THE UPPER LOW OVER SOUTHEAST ALASKA WILL REBUILD NICELY AGAIN AND BEGIN TO INFLUENCE A COUPLE OF SHORT WAVES TRYING TO MAKE THEIR WAY AROUND THE RIDGE. BUT THIS IS TOO FAR OFF TO EVEN THINK ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR SETTING UP FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF HEAVY SNOWFALL. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ226. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ208-AKZ210-AKZ211-AKZ212-AKZ216- AKZ217. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ204-AKZ213-AKZ215. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ245. && CF FEB 15
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
- Cold in Tennessee, February 17 to 21, 2015
- Cold in Wisconsin, February 17, 2015
- Rip Current in Puerto Rico, February 17, 2015
- Winter Weather in Kentucky, February 17 to 18, 2015
- Winter Weather in Illinois, February 17 to 18, 2015
- Winter Weather in Missouri, February 17 to 18, 2015
- Ice Storm and Winter Weather in South Carolina, February 17, 2015
- Winter Weather in Nebraska, February 17, 2015
- Winter Weather in Indiana, February 17 to 18, 2015
- Astronomical Low Tide in Louisiana, February 17 to 18, 2015
- Drought in Texas, February 17 to 28, 2015
- Cold in Iowa, February 17, 2015
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 2015
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: 558348.