Blizzard in Alaska, February 7 to 8, 2017

Name: Blizzard in Alaska, February 7 to 8, 2017
Start: 2017-02-07T19:15
End: 2017-02-08T20:00
Location: Alaska

February 7 to 8, 2017 · NWS AFG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A frontal boundary pushed through the eastern arctic slope and produced blizzard conditions during the evening of the 7th into the 8th of February. zone 204: Blizzard and quarter mile visibility reported at Point Thomson 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 frontal boundary pushed through the eastern arctic slope and produced blizzard conditions during the evening of the 7th into the 8th of February.

zone 204: Blizzard and quarter mile visibility reported at Point Thomson AWOS. A peak wind of 40 kt (46 mph) was also 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 7, 12:45 PM AKST, 6 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 7, 12:45 PM AKST, 6 hours 30 minutes before

Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Fairbanks AK
1245 PM AKST Tue Feb 7 2017

.DISCUSSION...
The 12z model suite initialized well against the 12z surface
analysis and verified well against the 18z surface analysis. Model
spread between model runs and between model families remains
minimal in the short range and is reasonable through the weekend
but large differences exist in the model suite beginning next
week which provides lower forecast confidence past Monday of next
week.

The persistent upper level low at 500 hpa continues to spin over
the eastern Bering Sea approximately 100 nm northwest of Nunivak
Island and will begin to move south and east as it is absorbed
into a developing long wave trough that is rapidly moving south
over the north slope. A strong shortwave moves south over the
north slope tonight and will be the focal point for light snow
over the western north slope and 1 to 3 inches of snow and gusty
winds over the eastern north slope. Strong cold air advection
combined with a barrier jet over the eastern most north slope will
produce low visibilities in snow and blowing snow. A Blizzard
Warning has been issued for the Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast
beginning this evening and continuing through Wednesday evening.
The front weakens rapidly as it moves south over the Brooks Range
and will bring only very light snow or flurries over the
interior.

A very cold air mass will move south over northern Alaska
beginning tonight and Wednesday over the north slope and northern
interior and will move into the southern interior Thursday and
Friday. 850 mb temperatures over Fairbanks this morning was around
5 below celsius and will drop to around 10 below Wednesday
morning and between 15 and 20 below Thursday. Coldest air arrives
over Fairbanks Friday and continues into the weekend with 850 mb
temperatures 25 below Friday morning and between 25 and 30 below
Saturday and around 25 below Sunday morning. 1000 to 500 mb
thickness values will drop to around 492 DM Friday and Saturday.
Surface temperatures over the central and eastern interior will be
significantly below normal with 40s below possible as skies clear
out over the weekend.

Considerable spread on model solutions early next week present a
challenge in forecasting how quickly the interior will warm up
with the GFS generally warmer and faster than the solution
presented by the ECMWF and Canadian models. The hills will likely
warm much faster with either solution with strong inversions
likely to continue over the interior.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Blizzard Warning for AKZ204.

Gale Warning for PKZ245.

Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ240.
&&

CCC FEB 17

Event by event

1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast

When: February 7, 7:15 PM AKST to February 8, 8:00 PM AKST
Where: Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast 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

Every storm in Alaska in 2017 Every state in 2017 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 2017

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: 684681.