Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- January 26, 10:14 AM AKST to 4:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
A peak wind gust of 52 kt ( 60 mph) at the Barter Island AWOS.
Blizzard in Alaska, January 26, 2016
A low pressure trough moving across the Arctic North Slope coupled with a 1023 mb high pressure center over northern Arctic Ocean created a strong pressure gradient over the eastern North Slope, providing strong winds and blizzard conditions during the day of the 26th. Zone 204: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Barter Island AWOS.
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 low pressure trough moving across the Arctic North Slope coupled with a 1023 mb high pressure center over northern Arctic Ocean created a strong pressure gradient over the eastern North Slope, providing strong winds and blizzard conditions during the day of the 26th.
Zone 204: Blizzard conditions were observed at the Barter Island AWOS. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow for several hours.
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 Jan 26, 1:43 AM AKST, 8 hours 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 26, 1:43 AM AKST, 8 hours 31 minutes before
NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 143 AM AKST TUE JAN 26 2016 .DISCUSSION... THE 00Z MODELS INITIALIZED WELL AGAINST THE 00Z ANALYSIS AND VERIFIED WELL AGAINST THE 06Z ANALYSIS. MODEL SPREAD REMAINS SMALL IN THE THE SHORT RANGE AND INTO THE MID RANGE AND REMAINS REASONABLE THROUGH THE LONG RANGE. ALOFT AT 500 HPA THE PERSISTENT RIDGE OVER EASTERN ALASKA AND EXTENDING SOUTHEAST OVER BRITISH COLOMBIA WEAKENS A LITTLE TODAY AS THE NEXT IN A SERIES OF SHORT WAVES PUSHES NORTH OUT OF THE NORTHERN GULF OF ALASKA THIS MORNING AND INTO THE THE SOUTHERN INTERIOR THIS EVENING. THE RIDGE BUILDS BACK QUICKLY TONIGHT AS THE SHORT WAVE CONTINUES TO MOVE TO THE NORTH AND STRETCHES FROM THE BERING STRAIT TO THE MCKENZIE DELTA WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE SHORTWAVE WILL BRING AN INCREASE TO THE CHINOOK WINDS OVER THE NORTHERN SLOPES OF THE ALASKA RANGE THIS EVENING. 40KTS AT 850 MB TO 750 MB WILL AGAIN MIX TO THE SURFACE AS A WEAK MOUNTAIN WAVE SETS UP. WINDS SHOULD REMAIN JUST BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS. ONGOING TANANA VALLEY JET WILL DIMINISH THIS MORNING AS UPPER LEVEL WINDS BECOME PERPENDICULAR TO THE ALASKA RANGE INSTEAD OF DOWN THE MIDDLE TANANA VALLEY. THE SHORT WAVE WILL BRING SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS TO THE NORTHERN INTERIOR AND EASTERN BROOKS RANGE AS UPWARD VERTICAL VELOCITIES OVERCOME WEAK DOWN SLOPE CHINOOK WINDS OVER THE SOUTHERN INTERIOR. UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT FROM THIS SHORT WAVE COMBINED WITH LEE SIDE TROUGHING OVER THE NORTHERN SLOPES OF THE EASTERN BROOKS RANGE WILL CREATE A SHARP TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN NORTH SLOPE WHICH COMBINED WITH A 1025 MB HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM NEAR 80N AND 155W WILL STRENGTHEN AN ALREADY STRONG GRADIENT OVER THE EASTERN NORTH SLOPE. ONGOING BLIZZARD WARNING HAS BEEN EXTENDED IN TIME THROUGH NOON WEDNESDAY AS STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH FALLING SNOW TO CREATE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. THE STRONG GRADIENT RELAXES QUICKLY TO THE WEST WHERE NEITHER WIND GUSTS NOR VISIBILITY ARE EXPECTED TO REQUIRE HEADLINES. ONGOING BLIZZARD WARNING FOR THE BERING STRAIT AND ST LAWRENCE ISLAND HAS BEEN EXTENDED THOUGH NOON WEDNESDAY. THE INITIAL FRONT HAS PASSED THROUGH THE BERING STRAIT AND PUSHED NORTHWEST PAST ST LAWRENCE ISLAND WHERE CONDITIONS HAVE IMPROVED SOME THIS MORNING...HOWEVER WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN STRONG IF NOT INCREASE THROUGH THE DAY TODAY AND TONIGHT AND AS SNOW PUSHES BACK INTO THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH THE NEXT SHORT WAVE...CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DETERIORATE ONCE AGAIN TO BLIZZARD OR NEAR CONDITIONS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE TONIGHT AND THROUGH NOON WEDNESDAY. DISPERSION IN INTERIOR VALLEYS IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN POOR TODAY AND BECOME VERY POOR TONIGHT AS STEEP AND SHALLOW INVERSIONS CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING INTO THE 20S AND 30S IN THE HILLS AND VALLEY TEMPERATURES REMAINING IN THE SINGLE DIGITS. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FOR AKZ223. BLIZZARD WARNING FOR AKZ204-AKZ213. GALE WARNING FOR PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ240-PKZ245. BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ225-PKZ235. && CCC JAN 16
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
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 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: 614478.