Heavy Snow in Alaska, March 28, 2016

Name: Heavy Snow in Alaska, March 28, 2016
Start: 2016-03-28T02:00
End: 2016-03-28T19:00
Location: Alaska

March 28, 2016 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Low pressure and its associated warm front brought an abundance of moisture and heavy snow to the Alaska range on the 28th. Over a foot of snow fell in 24 hours.

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.

Low pressure and its associated warm front brought an abundance of moisture and heavy snow to the Alaska range on the 28th. Over a foot of snow fell in 24 hours.

zone 226: Trims camp DOT reported 14 inches of snow fell on the 28th of March.

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 27, 1:24 PM AKST, 12 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 27, 1:24 PM AKST, 12 hours 36 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
224 PM AKDT SUN MAR 27 2016

.DISCUSSION...
MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT THROUGH 60 HOURS FOR FEATURES ALOFT.
SURFACE FEATURES SHOW SOME TIMING DISCREPANCIES AND PRECIPITATION
COVERAGE VARIES SUBSTANTIALLY FOR NORTHERN ALASKA BEGINNING
MONDAY AS WELL AS FREEZING LEVELS AND TEMPERATURES ALOFT.

ALOFT...STRONG UPPER LEVEL LONG WAVE FROM UPPER LOW DIRECTLY
NORTH OF WRANGEL ISLAND NEAR 80N DIVING SOUTH THROUGH GALENA AND
THEN TO NEAR DILLINGHAM THIS MORNING WILL MOVE TO ABOUT THE ALCAN
BORDER BY LATE SUN NIGHT WHILE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE EXPANDS NORTH TO
PUSH THE LONG WAVE NORTHWARD AND REDUCE IT TO A WEAK SHORT WAVE
TROUGH.

STRONG VERTICALLY STACKED LOW SOUTH OF THE ALEUTIANS WILL CONTINUE
TO DIVE SOUTHWARD AGAINST THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE. THE NEW MODEL
RUNS DO NOT SUGGEST AS MUCH PRECIPITATION AS PREVIOUS RUNS DID AS
IT SENDS SHORT WAVE TROUGHS NORTHWARD TO DUMP DECENT MOISTURE.

SURFACE...SURFACE COLD FRONT...AND ALOFT IS MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS
NORTHERN ALASKA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE AIR WILL BECOME
MORE MODIFIED AS IT MOVES EASTWARD AND LOSES ITS STRONG COLD FRONT
CHARACTERISTICS. STRONG SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL DEVELOP OVER THE
CENTRAL INTERIOR AND COMBINED WITH THE DECENT MOISTURE MOVING UP
FROM THE PACIFIC THERE COULD BE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL OVER A
PORTION OF THE ALASKA RANGE ZONES. TO COMPLICATE THE SCENARIO
MORE IS THAT THE MOISTURE WILL ALSO BE ACCOMPANIED BY WARM
ADVECTION. HOWEVER...MOST OF THE SNOW WILL BE AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS
IN THE EASTERN ALASKA RANGE INITIALLY BUT THEN BECOME RAIN MON
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

THE ARCTIC SLOPE LOOKS TO BE FAIRLY BENIGN AS WELL AS THE WEST
COAST TONIGHT. MODELS ARE NOW MOVING MOST OF THE MOISTURE AWAY
FROM THE WESTERN ALASKA ZONES FOR THE INITIAL SHORT WAVES FOR THE
FIRST PART OF THE WEEK BUT CREEP THE MOISTURE BACK IN FOR
SOUTHWEST ALASKA FOR THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ226.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ220.
&&

CF MAR 16

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng

When: March 28, 2:00 AM AKST to 7:00 PM AKST
Where: Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2016 Every state in 2016 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, March 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: 626756.