Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, March 7, 2015

Name: Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, March 7, 2015
Start: 2015-03-07T06:08
End: 2015-03-07T20:00
Location: Alaska

March 7, 2015 · NWS AFG · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Strong winds along with snow showers behind a frontal boundary produced blizzard conditions for the Seward Peninsula and along the coastal villages east of Nome during the afternoon and evening hours of the 7th of March. Zone 210: Blizzard conditions were likely at Deering, where the ASOS reported the visibility was one quarter mile or less along with a peak gust of 40 kt (46 mph).

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

Zone 210: Blizzard conditions were likely at Deering, where the ASOS reported the visibility was one quarter mile or less along with a peak gust of 40 kt (46 mph).

Zone 212: Blizzard conditions were likely at St. Michael during the afternoon of the 7th, where the AWSS began reporting a visibility of one-quarter mile at 1114AKST through mid afternoon. There was a peak gust of 45 kt (52 mph).

Zone 214: Peak gust of 54 kt (60 mph) at the Scammon Bay AWSS during the morning hours of the 7th.

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 Mar 7, 5:45 AM AKST, 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 5:45 AM AKST, 23 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
545 AM AKST SAT MAR 7 2015

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS CONTINUE TO BE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE SHORT AND MID
RANGE AND CONTINUE TO EXHIBIT EXPECTED AMOUNTS OF SPREAD IN THE
LONG RANGE. THE 00Z MODELS INITIALIZED WELL AND VERIFIED
REASONABLY AGAINST THE 06Z ANALYSIS. RELIED ON A BLEND OF
INHERITED FORECAST COMBINED WITH THE 00Z GFS AND 00Z ECMWF AS THE
BASIS FOR THIS FORECAST PACKAGE.

ALOFT AT 500 HPA...THE STRONG SHORT WAVE OVER THE WEST COAST WILL
LIFT NORTH AND EAST INTO THE BEAUFORT SEA THIS EVENING AS ANOTHER
SHORT WAVE RACES RAPIDLY SOUTHEAST OUT OF SIBERIA TODAY AND WILL
BE LOCATED OVER ST LAWRENCE ISLAND BY SUNDAY MORNING AND WILL BE
LOCATED NEAR ANCHORAGE BY MONDAY MORNING AND NEAR YAKUTAT MONDAY
EVENING. COLD DRY AIR ALOFT PUSHES SOUTHEAST OUT OF SIBERIA AND
SIGNIFICANTLY DROPS THE 850 MB TEMPERATURES ACROSS NORTHER
ALASKA AS WELL AS USHERS IN A MUCH DRIER AIRMASS.

ONGOING HEAVY SNOW EVENT ON THE WEST COAST IS WINDING DOWN WITH
SNOW RATES DECREASING AND VISIBILITIES IMPROVING AS HEAVIER SNOWS
MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR. EXPECTING AN
ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES ALONG THE WEST COAST AND WESTERN
INTERIOR TODAY AND INTO THIS EVENING. STEADY SNOW HAS MOVED INTO
THE FAIRBANKS AREA OVERNIGHT AND IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TODAY.
DEEP LAYER MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW COMBINED WITH UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT
WILL GENERATE ADVISORY LEVEL SNOW OVER A LARGE PORTION OF THE
CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR WHERE GENERALLY STORM TOTALS OF 4 TO
8 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED WITH HEAVIEST AMOUNTS IN HIGHER
TERRAIN ESPECIALLY SOUTHWEST FACING SLOPES. STRONG UPSLOPE FLOW
WILL ENHANCE SNOWFALL IN THE EASTERN ALASKA RANGE WHERE A WINTER
STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW CONTINUES WHERE STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL
OF 10 TO 20 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT. 925 MB
WINDS IN THE 30 TO 40 KT RANGE OVER THE INTERIOR WILL CREATE GUSTY
WINDS AT VALLEY LEVEL AND AREAS OF REDUCED VISIBILITY IN BLOWING
SNOW OVER INTERIOR SUMMITS.

AS THE SYSTEM PASS THROUGH THE EASTERN INTERIOR SUNDAY A MUCH
COLDER AND DRIER AIR MASS WILL SETTLE OVER THE AREA NEXT WEEK. 850
MB TEMPERATURES ARE PROGGED TO DROP FROM AROUND 12 BELOW SUNDAY
MORNING TO AROUND 22 BELOW MONDAY MORNING. THE COLD AND RELATIVELY DRY
PATTERN IS PROGGED TO REMAIN OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE END OF NEXT
WEEK.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ208-AKZ209-AKZ213-AKZ217-AKZ226.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ218-AKZ219-AKZ220-AKZ221-AKZ222-
AKZ223-AKZ224-AKZ225.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-
PKZ230.
&&

CCC MAR 15

Event by event

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

High Wind, Yukon Delta

When: March 7, 6:08 AM AKST to 11:00 AM AKST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWSS

Blizzard, Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills

When: March 7, 11:14 AM AKST to 8:00 PM AKST
Where: Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills forecast zone
Reported by: AWSS

Blizzard, Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula

When: March 7, 11:53 AM AKST to 7:38 PM AKST
Where: Nrn & Intr. Seward Peninsula forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
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

Every storm in Alaska in 2015 Every state in 2015 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, March 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: 569479, 569463, 569470.