Name: Blizzard in Alaska, March 31, 2016
Start: 2016-03-31T10:25
End: 2016-03-31T19:56
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 tight gradient set up between 1038 mb high and low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska and associated frontal boundary produced snow and blowing snow and local blizzard conditions during the day on the 31st of March for the west coast of Alaska south of Nome.

Zone 212 - Blizzard conditions were observed at St Michael. Additionally the wind gusted to 46 mph (40 kt) at the St Michael AWSS.

Zone 214 - Blizzard conditions were observed at Emmonak. Additionally the wind gusted to 41 mph (37 kt) at the Emmonak AWOS.

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 31, 5:03 AM AKST, 5 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 5:03 AM AKST, 5 hours 22 minutes before

NORTHERN ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
603 AM AKDT THU MAR 31 2016

.DISCUSSION...

SMOOTH TOPPED UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CURRENTLY EXTENDS FROM DALL POINT
TO NEAR YAKUTAT AND SOUTHEASTWARD. THE RIDGE WILL SHARPEN A BIT
AND DRIFT NORTHWARD THROUGH LATE TONIGHT...RIDGE AXIS AT 4 AM FRI
WILL EXTEND FROM THE SEWARD PENINSULA TO NORTHWAY AND
SOUTHEASTWARD. AS THE RIDGE SHARPENS SOME AND DRIFT NORTH...THE
MOISTURE STREAM WILL SHIFT SLOWLY NORTHWARD AND GRADUALLY
DIMINISH. THE RIDGE WILL WEAKEN SUBSTANTIALLY BY LATE FRIDAY NIGHT
AS THE FIRST OF SEVERAL SHORT WAVE TROUGHS CUTS INTO THE BACK SIDE
OF THE RIDGE. MOISTURE IS CONTINUING TO FLOW AROUND THE TOP OF
THE RIDGE...WITH SNOW DEVELOPING OVER THE YUKON DELTA AND
CONTINUING OVER THE MIDDLE AND LOWER YUKON VALLEYS...UPPER
KUSKOKWIM VALLEY...CENTRAL INTERIOR...HIGHER ELEVATIONS IN THE
MIDDLE TANANA VALLEY. SNOW WILL SPREAD NORTHWARD INTO THE UPPER
YUKON VALLEY AND UPPER KOYUKUK VALLEYS TODAY AND CONTINUE INTO
FRIDAY.

ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY...
UPPER KOYUKUK VALLEY...3 TO 6 INCHES...LARGEST AMOUNTS SOUTH OF
 BETTLES.
UPPER YUKON VALLEY...3 TO 5 INCHES.
CENTRAL INTERIOR...1 TO 2 INCHES NORTH AND WEST OF MANLEY TODAY.
MIDDLE TANANA VALLEY...1 TO 2 INCHES OVER HIGHER TERRAIN TODAY.
YUKON DELTA...4 TO 8 INCHES.
LOWER YUKON VALLEY...UP TO 3 INCHES TODAY AND 1 INCH FRIDAY.
MIDDLE YUKON VALLEY...UP TO 3 INCHES TODAY AND 1 TO 2 INCHES
 FRIDAY.

PERIODS OF SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED OVER MUCH OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR
AND WEST COAST THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH A CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN INTERIOR
AS SEVERAL SHORT WAVE TROUGHS MOVE NORTHWARD. ADDITIONAL SNOW
AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED BE BELOW ADVISORY OR WARNING LEVELS.

STRONG NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS WILL DEVELOP THIS MORNING
OVER THE NORTHERN BERING SEA...ST LAWRENCE ISLAND...BERING STRAIT
COAST AS A SURFACE TROUGH OVER SOUTHWEST ALASKA MOVES WESTWARD
AND TIGHTENS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT. STRONG WINDS ARE ALREADY
OCCURRING OVER OUTER COASTAL AREAS OF THE YUKON DELTA AND WILL
CONTINUE TODAY BEFORE DIMINISHING BEHIND THE TROUGH PASSAGE.
LOCALLY GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED IN CHANNELED AREAS OF
THE SEWARD PENINSULA TODAY AND TONIGHT.

COLD TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE OVER THE ARCTIC SLOPE THROUGH
TONIGHT...WITH SOME SLOW MODERATION BEGINNING FRIDAY OR FRIDAY
NIGHT AS HIGHER CLOUD COVER SLOWLY WORKS ITS WAY NORTHWARD
AND BRINGS TEMPERATURES UP SOME. WIND CHILL TO 40 TO 45 BELOW
ALONG THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ARCTIC COAST SHOULD MODERATE
TONIGHT AS WINDS DECREASE.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR AKZ214-AKZ215-AKZ216.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR AKZ220-AKZ221-AKZ222.

GALE WARNING FOR PKZ200-PKZ210.

BRISK WIND ADVISORY FOR PKZ220.
&&

RF MAR 16

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 31, 5:49 AM AKST, 4 hours 36 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK
649 AM AKDT THU MAR 31 2016

AKZ222-312000-
MIDDLE TANANA VALLEY-
INCLUDING...FAIRBANKS...FORT WAINWRIGHT...EIELSON AFB...ESTER...
NORTH POLE...MOOSE CREEK...TWO RIVERS...FOX...CHATANIKA...
CHENA HOT SPRINGS...SOURDOUGH CAMP
649 AM AKDT THU MAR 31 2016

...SLIPPERY ROAD CONDITIONS THIS MORNING...

AREAS OF LIGHT RAIN WHICH OCCURRED OVERNIGHT HAVE FROZEN ON
ROADWAYS OVERNIGHT WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING TO FREEZING. ROAD
SURFACES WILL REMAIN SLIPPERY DURING THE MORNING HOURS AND
MOTORISTS SHOULD DRIVE WITH CAUTION. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO
RISE TO AT LEAST A FEW DEGREES ABOVE FREEZING BY LATE MORNING.

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills

When: March 31, 10:25 AM AKST to 7:56 PM AKST
Where: Ern Norton Sound Nulato Hills forecast zone
Reported by: AWSS

Blizzard, Yukon Delta

When: March 31, 1:56 PM AKST to 7:00 PM AKST
Where: Yukon Delta forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

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 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: 626568, 626569.