Blizzard, Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast
- When
- January 7, 1:00 AM AKST to 3:00 PM AKST
- Where
- Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
Blizzard in Alaska, January 7, 2017
A low pressure trough moving across the Arctic North Slope coupled with a 1052 mb high pressure center over the interior created a strong pressure gradient over the eastern North Slope, providing strong winds and blizzard conditions on January 7th 2017. |Zone 204: Blizzard conditions were observed at the 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 low pressure trough moving across the Arctic North Slope coupled with a 1052 mb high pressure center over the interior created a strong pressure gradient over the eastern North Slope, providing strong winds and blizzard conditions on January 7th 2017.
|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 on January 7th 2017. A peak wind of 38 kt (44 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 Jan 6, 12:22 PM AKST, 12 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 12:22 PM AKST, 12 hours 38 minutes before
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 1222 PM AKST Fri Jan 6 2017 .DISCUSSION... Strong high pressure, cooler air, and much quieter weather has settled in over much of mainland Alaska this morning. Low pressure in the high Arctic skirting around the top of the high will move east to Banks Island in Canada by Saturday afternoon. A weather front associated with this low is approaching the northwest Arctic coast and will move east across the North Slope tonight. West winds 25 to 35 mph along snow and blowing snow will sweep eastward overnight. Visibility will be reduced to 1/2 mile in blowing snow at times but this system will not be nearly severe as the blizzard conditions experienced yesterday. Strong winds and areas of blowing snow are also occuring around the perimeter of the high from the Bering Strait north to Cape Lisburne but will diminish by Saturday morning. The main high pressure center and core of cold air will drift east into the Yukon Territory tonight and Saturday. Altimeter readings exceeding 31.00 inches over the Interior the next day or so and could create an issue for aviation. All models are in good agreement with a large blocking high pressure center aloft building over western Alaska later this weekend and persisting into early next week. Warmer temperatures aloft combined with clear skies will create significant temperatures inversions, especially over the Interior with 20 to 30 degree differences between hilltops and valleys common. Models do begin to diverge some by mid-week with the timing and strength of a vigorous short wave trough digging south from the Arctic. But the consensus is for some snow in most areas followed by much colder, below normal, temperatures to settle in over the state late next week and persist into the foreseeable future. Coastal hazard potential Days 3 and 4...None. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning for AKZ213. Blizzard Warning for AKZ201. Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ202-AKZ203-AKZ204-AKZ207. Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ210. Gale Warning for PKZ230-PKZ245. Small Craft Advisory for PKZ210. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ215-PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ235-PKZ240. && EWP JAN 17
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
- Winter Storm and Avalanche in Idaho, January 7 to 11, 2017
- Flash Flooding and Debris Flows in California, January 7 to 9, 2017
- Extreme Cold in Texas, January 7, 2017
- Flooding and Winter Weather in Nevada, January 7 to 12, 2017
- Flash Flooding and Debris Flow in California, January 7 to 11, 2017
- Debris Flow and Flooding in California, January 7 to 31, 2017
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Delaware, January 7, 2017
- Ice Storm and Flood in California, January 7, 2017
- Winter Storm and High Wind in Wyoming, January 7 to 11, 2017
- Winter Weather in Virginia, January 7, 2017
- Cold in North Carolina, January 7 to 8, 2017
- Winter Storm in New Jersey, January 7, 2017
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 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: 677888.