Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- February 12, 12:00 AM AKST to February 14, 3:15 PM AKST
- Where
- Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
A peak wind of 53 kt (61 mph) was reported.
Blizzard in Alaska, February 12 to 14, 2016
A low pressure trough moving across the Arctic North Slope coupled with a 1045 mb high pressure center over the high Arctic created a strong pressure gradient over the eastern North Slope, providing strong winds and blizzard conditions from the early morning hours of February 12th through the most of the day of the 14th. Barrow schools were closed on the 12th.
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 low pressure trough moving across the Arctic North Slope coupled with a 1045 mb high pressure center over the high Arctic created a strong pressure gradient over the eastern North Slope, providing strong winds and blizzard conditions from the early morning hours of February 12th through the most of the day of the 14th. Barrow schools were closed on the 12th.
Zone 201: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Wainwright ASOS. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow for several days. A peak wind of 43 kt (49 mph) was reported.
Zone 202: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Barrow ASOS. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow for several days. A peak wind of 40 kt (46 mph) was reported. Barrow schools were closed on the 12th.
Zone 203: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Deadhorse ASOS. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow for several days. A peak wind of 46 kt (53 mph) was reported.
Zone 204: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Point Thomson AWOS. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow for several days. A peak wind of 53 kt (61 mph) was reported.
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 11, 1:58 PM AKST, 10 hours 2 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 11, 1:58 PM AKST, 10 hours 2 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 158 PM AKST THU FEB 11 2016 .SYNOPSIS... ALOFT... THE LONG WAVE PATTERN CONSISTING OF A LONG WAVE RIDGE OVER WESTERN CANADA WITH A LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER THE BERING AND NORTH PACIFIC. THIS PATTERN WILL PROGRESS EAST WITH THE TROUGH MOVING OVER MAINLAND ALASKA BE EARLY NEXT WEEK FOLLOWED BY A RIDGE BUILDING OVER ALASKA BY MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THIS BROAD SCALE PATTER WILL CAUSE THE EASTERN INTERIOR TO KEEP TEMPERATURES WELL ABOVE NORMAL AND REMAIN DRIER THAN NORMAL THROUGH NEXT WEEK. THE NORTH SLOPE WILL REMAIN JUST ABOVE NORMAL FOR TEMPERATURE THROUGH NEXT WEEK. THE WEST COAST AND WESTERN INTERIOR WILL REMAIN NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND THEN BECOME WETTER AND WARMER THAN NORMAL NEXT WEEK. A LOW ALOFT NEAR AMBLER WILL MOVE TO POINT HOPE BY 3AM SAT AND THEN REMAIN QUASI STATIONARY THROUGH SUN. MID LEVEL CLOUDS AND FLURRIES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LOW. A SHORT WAVE TROUGH FROM THE LOW TO NUIQSUT WILL MOVE TO AMBLER TO BARROW BY 3AM FRI...TO KOTZEBUE TO POINT LAY BY 3PM FRI...AND THEN MOVE NORTHWEST. LIGHT SNOW WILL MOVE WEST WITH THIS TROUGH DROPPING 1-2 INCHES OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. A SECOND SHORT WAVE FROM NORTHWAY EAST WILL MOVE TO FORT YUKON EAST BY 3AM FRI AND THEN MOVE NORTHEAST. AN AREAS OF SNOW SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WILL MOVE NORTH WITH THE TROUGH AND DIMINISH SOUTH OF THE TROUGH. COULD SEE 1-2 INCHES OF SNOW. 850 MB TEMPERATURES VARY FROM -2C OVER THE SOUTHEAST INTERIOR TO -14C OVER THE NORTHERN INTERIOR AND ARCTIC COAST. TEMPERATURES WILL WARM SEVERAL DEGREES OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR AND EASTERN NORTH SLOPE THROUGH FRI WHILE TEMPERATURES FALL SEVERAL DEGREES OVER THE WEST COAST AND WESTERN NORTH SLOPE. SURFACE... A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE NORTH OF THE ARCTIC COAST WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL KEEP EAST WINDS BLOWING ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST THROUGH THE WEEKEND. A WEATHER FRONT STRETCHING FROM BRISTOL BAY TO TANANA TO ARCTIC VILLAGE WILL MOVE TO DILLINGHAM TO BETTLES TO DEADHORSE THEN EAST BY 3AM FRI...TO ANVIK TO AMBLER TO ATQASUK TO BARTER ISLAND BY 3PM FRI...TO ANVIK TO RED DOG TO PRUDHOE BAY BY 3AM SAT... AND TO ANVIK TO AMBLER TO TO 998 MB LOW NEAR POINT HOPE TO BARROW AND EAST BY 4PM SAT. SNOW IS OCCURING ALONG THIS FRONT. EXPECT 1-2 INCHES OF SNOW WITH THE FRONT WITH UP TO 3 INCHES IN THE WESTERN INTERIOR. WILL SEE EAST WINDS INCREASE ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST FROM BARROW EAST TONIGHT AND FRI AND COULD LEAD TO ANOTHER ROUND OF LOW VISIBILITY IN BLOWING SNOW FOR ZONES 203 204 FRI AND 202 FRI NIGHT. WEAK CHINOOK FLOW OVER THE ALASKA RANGE IS NOW OCCURING AND WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT THEN DECREASE FRI. A SECOND WEATHER FRONT IN THE GULF OF AK WILL MOVE ALONG THE ALASKA RANGE BY 3PM FRI...TO MCGRATH TO LIVENGOOD TO EAGLE BY 3AM SAT AND TO MCGRATH TO TANANA TO OLD CROW BY 3PM SAT. EXPECT ISOLATES SNOW SHOWERS WITH THIS EXCEPT FOR SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS NEAR THE ALCAN BORDER. && .DISCUSSION... MODELS INITIALIZE WELL. SIMILAR SOLUTIONS THROUGH 3PM FRI...THEN THE NAM FURTHER NORTH WITH THE LOW IN THE CHUKCHI SEA AND WEAKER WITH THE SHORT WAVE MOVING NORTH OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA THAN THE GFS AND ECMF SOLUTIONS. THE GFS/ECMF SULTANS SIMILAR THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND ARE PREFERRED. START TO SEE LARGE DIFFERENCES ON SHORT WAVES NEXT WEEK SO FAVOR THE ENSEMBLES PER THE HPC DISCUSSION. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ226. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ202-AKZ203-AKZ204. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ245. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ235-PKZ240. && JB FEB 16
Event by event
4 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard, Northern Arctic Coast
- When
- February 12, 7:02 AM AKST to February 14, 4:53 AM AKST
- Where
- Northern Arctic Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast
- When
- February 12, 9:45 AM AKST to February 14, 4:53 AM AKST
- Where
- Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
Blizzard, Central Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- February 12, 10:00 AM AKST to February 14, 4:45 PM AKST
- Where
- Central Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
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
- Dense Fog in California, February 12 to 13, 2016
- Lake-Effect Snow in New York, February 12 to 13, 2016
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 12, 2016
- Dense Fog in California, February 12 to 13, 2016
- Winter Weather in Tennessee, February 12, 2016
- Winter Storm in North Carolina, February 12, 2016
- High Surf in California, February 12 to 14, 2016
- Lake-Effect Snow and Winter Weather in Michigan, February 12 to 13, 2016
- Heavy Snow in Tennessee, February 12, 2016
- Heavy Rain in Idaho, February 12 to 19, 2016
- Winter Weather in Virginia, February 12, 2016
- Heavy Snow in Maine, February 12 to 14, 2016
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 2016
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: 618905, 618907, 618908, 618906.