Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, November 18 to 20, 2015

Name: Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, November 18 to 20, 2015
Start: 2015-11-18T12:00
End: 2015-11-20T09:46
Location: Alaska

November 18 to 20, 2015 · NWS AFG · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 969 mb low pressure system moved into the Bering Sea and the associated occluded front moved across the west coast of Alaska on the 19th. This system brought snow to areas of the west coast from the afternoon of the 18th into the early morning hours of the 20th. Higher elevations received an estimated 8 to 12 inches of snow. Strong winds and snow produced blizzard conditions along the coast. This system also set up strong southerly flow across the Alaska Range at the same time, resulting in high winds there and in the Delta Junction area.

Winter Storm conditions reported at: |Zone 209: Blizzard conditions with visibility less than one quarter mile at times. A peak wind of 37 kt ( 43 mph) at the Selawik AWOS.

Zone 212: estimated 6 inches of snow fell at Shaktoolik river during the day of the 19th.

Zone 214: estimated 12 inches of snow fell at Emmonak during the day of the 18th into the 19th.

Zone 215: estimated 12 inches of snow fell at Russian Mission during the day of the 18th into the early morning hours of the 19th.

Zone 216: estimated 8 inches of snow fell at Kaltag during the day of the 19th and into the morning hours of the 20th.

High winds reported at:|Zone 223: There was a peak wind gust of 64 kts (74 mph) at the Fort Greely Mesonet site FTG14....located 10 miles SSW of Delta Junction.

Zone 225: There was a peak wind gust to 61 kts (70 mph) at Antler Creek DOT site at MP 244 along the Parks Highway.

Zone 226: The strongest wind at the Texas Condo US Army Mesonet site gusted to 70 kts (80 mph).

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 18, 7:29 AM AKST, 4 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 18, 7:29 AM AKST, 4 hours 31 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
729 AM AKST WED NOV 18 2015

.DISCUSSION...
ACTIVE WEATHER IS ON TAP THESE NEXT FEW DAYS ACROSS MUCH OF THE
WEST COAST INTO CENTRAL INTERIOR. THE MAIN CONCERNS THIS FORECAST
PACKAGE WERE WINTER WEATHER HAZARDS TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY AND WX IN
THE IMMEDIATE NEAR-TERM. THE FORMER IS ASSOCIATED WITH AN
WEAKENING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CURRENTLY IN THE EASTERN BERING SEA
AND A SECOND LOW TO THE WEST THAT WILL BE RAPIDLY INTENSIFYING
TODAY. THE SECOND LOW IS NOW JUST EAST OF THE KAMCHATKA PENINSULA
AND WILL BE FOLLOWING A SIMILAR TRACK TO THE FIRST LOW...MOVING
INTO THE EAST CENTRAL BERING SEA EARLY THU.

THE TWO LOWS WILL BRING MULTIPLE HAZARDS TO THE NORTHEAST BERING
SEA AND THE WEST COAST/WESTERN INTERIOR TODAY THROUGH TOMORROW
WITH HIGH CONFIDENCE. THE LATTER SPECIFICALLY IS IN REGARD TO THE
SOUTHERN SEWARD PENINSULA COAST...TO THE MIDDLE YUKON VALLEY...TO
THE UPPER KUSKOKWIM VALLEY AREAS.

ELSEWHERE...THE WX IN NEAR-TERM PERIOD/TODAY OVER THE
CENTRAL/EASTERN INTERIOR AND THE NORTH SLOPE WILL BE INVOLVING
MAINLY ISOLATED-SCATTERED LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS AND PATCHY FOG.

.ALOFT...THE BROAD LONG WAVE TROUGH CURRENTLY IN PLACE OVER THE
EASTERN TWO-THIRDS OF MAINLAND AK WILL GIVE WAY THE NEXT 24-HRS
AS THE PATTERN TURNS PROGRESSIVE. A SHORT-WAVE TROUGH CURRENTLY
OVER THE NORTHEAST BERING SEA WILL MOVE TO THE WESTERN INTERIOR
AND DAMPEN BY LATE TODAY. MEANWHILE...A STRONG 500 HPA LOW ALOFT
IN THE CENTRAL BERING SEA WILL MOVE TO THE EASTERN BERING SEA
TONIGHT. A STRONG RIDGE WILL THEN BUILD OVER THE EASTERN TWO-
THIRDS OF MAINLAND AK THU AS THE AFOREMENTIONED TROUGH LIFTS
GRADUALLY INTO THE NORTHEAST BERING SEA. THE 500 HPA RIDGE WILL
THEN SUBSEQUENTLY PUSH EAST INTO THE YUKON THU NIGHT AS THE TROUGH
WEAKENS AND LIFTS NORTHEAST INTO NORTHWEST AK. THIS TROUGH WILL
CONTINUE TO WEAKEN AND LIFT NORTH AND EAST FRI-FRI NIGHT AS A
QUASI-ZONAL 500 HPA PATTERN DEVELOPS OVER NORTHERN AK BY SAT.

.SURFACE...A WEAKENING 996 MB LOW IN THE EASTERN BERING SEA WILL
WEAKEN INTO A TROUGH TODAY AS A SECOND LOW INTENSIFIES IN THE
WESTERN BERING SEA. ELSEWHERE...A TROUGH WILL PERSIST FROM THE
BERING STRAIT THROUGH THE CHUKCHI SEA INTO THU. THE SECOND
STRONGER LOW WILL THEN MOVE INTO THE EAST CENTRAL BERING SEA THU
AT ABOUT 972 MB. MEANWHILE...HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE NORTH SLOPE
AND CENTRAL INTERIOR WILL BUILD INTO THE EASTERN INTERIOR TODAY.
HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BE SHIFTED EAST ON THU TO THE EASTERN
YUKON AND WILL SUBSEQUENTLY BUILD TO ABOUT 1030 MB AS THE
INTENSIFYING LOW MOVES EAST. THE SURFACE LOW WILL THEN GRADUALLY
START TO WEAKEN AND LIFT INTO THE NORTON SOUND BY FRI MORNING AT
ABOUT 983 MB.

AS THE LOW LIFTS NORTHEAST THU INTO EARLY FRI...MOIST AIR WILL
BE USHERED INTO THE WEST COAST AND WESTERN INTERIOR. THIS
MOISTURE COMBINED WITH SUFFICIENT VERTICAL ASCENT IN THE DENDRITIC
SNOW GROWTH ZONE WILL SPREAD SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL FROM THE YUKON
DELTA NORTHWARD INTO THE UPPER KOBUK AND NOATAK VALLEYS OVER THE
THU THROUGH FRI PERIOD. SEVERAL WATCHES WERE MODIFIED TO WARNINGS
OVER THE OVERNIGHT SHIFT DUE TO INCREASED CONFIDENCE IN HAZARDS
OCCURRING. SPECIFICALLY...ZONE 213 WAS CHANGED TO A BLIZZARD
WARNING...AND ZONES 211...212...216...AND 227 WERE CHANGED TO A
WINTER STORM WARNING.

MEANWHILE...SUPPORT ALOFT REMAINS SUPPORTIVE FOR A HIGH WIND EVENT
WITH A CLOSED LOW TO THE WEST AND A RIDGE SHIFTING EAST INTO
CANADA THU INTO THU NIGHT. CONFIDENCE IS GROWING FOR A STRONG
CHINOOK EVENT TO TAKE PLACE WITH THE EXTENT OF THE WINDS
SUFFICIENT ENOUGH TO AFFECT ZONES 223 AND 224 AS WELL. VERY
SUPPORTIVE SUPPORT ALOFT IN TERMS OF WIND SPEEDS...WITH 700 MB
WINDS EXCEEDING 65 KTS...AND WIND DIRECTION...RELATIVE TO THE
ALASKA RANGE. THE SETUP ALOFT WILL BE CONDUCIVE FOR WINDS AS HIGH
AS 70 MPH ALONG THE PARKS AND RICHARDSONS HIGHWAY NEAR THE ALASKA
RANGE...AND WINDS GUSTING TO 50 MPH POSSIBLE ALONG THE ALASKA
HIGHWAY WEST OF TOK IN ZONE 224.

.COASTAL HAZARD POTENTIAL DAYS 3 AND 4...NONE.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH WIND WATCH FOR AKZ223-AKZ224-AKZ225-AKZ226.

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ211-AKZ212-AKZ214-AKZ215-AKZ216-
AKZ227.

BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ213.

WINTER STORM WATCH FOR AKZ209-AKZ210-AKZ217-AKZ219.

HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ220.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ215.
&&

ET

NOV 15

Event by event

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

Heavy Snow, Lower Yukon Valley

When: November 18, 12:00 PM AKST to November 19, 3:00 PM AKST
Where: Lower Yukon Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Heavy Snow, Yukon Delta

When: November 18, 12:56 PM AKST to November 20, 9:46 AM AKST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet

Heavy Snow, Lower Koyukuk Middle Ykn Vlys

When: November 19, 1:53 AM AKST to November 20, 8:00 AM AKST
Where: Lower Koyukuk Middle Ykn Vlys forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS

High Wind, Deltana and Tanana

When: November 19, 4:58 AM AKST to 10:15 PM AKST
Where: Deltana and Tanana forecast zone
Measured: 64 kt (74 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Blizzard, Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley

When: November 19, 12:00 PM AKST to 7:00 PM AKST
Where: Baldwin Pen. & Selawik Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

High Wind, Denali

When: November 19, 3:00 PM AKST to November 20, 12:22 AM AKST
Where: Denali forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng

When: November 19, 3:10 PM AKST to November 20, 12:20 AM AKST
Where: Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
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, November 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: 607306, 607322, 607290, 607759, 607324, 607760, 607761.