Alaska, 2018

Winter Storm in Alaska, February 13, 2018

February 13, 2018 · NWS AJK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Post frontal snow showers hammered Hyder on the night of 2/13 into the morning of 2/14. 3 inches new snow 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 AJK wrote it up.

Post frontal snow showers hammered Hyder on the night of 2/13 into the morning of 2/14. Storm total was 15.3 inches new snow in 24 hours. Impact was snow removal.

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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 13, 5:13 AM AKST, 1 hour 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 13, 5:13 AM AKST, 1 hour 34 minutes before
Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Juneau AK
513 AM AKST Tue Feb 13 2018

.SHORT TERM.../ Tuesday to Wednesday night / Weather front lying
across the southern half of the panhandle from the southeast Gulf
of Alaska and Pacific to north central British Columbia. Radar
imagery is showing the back edge of the heavier Precipitation is
moving past Frederick Sound early this morning. The main front
should be south of the panhandle by noon, and then just the
residual showers behind the front and associated with a weak
surface and low level upper circulation. Believe that the
rain/snow should be ending for Southeast Alaska in the evening.
High pressure will rebuild over the Gulf of Alaska and a smaller
high over the Yukon Territory.

The Yukon high will swing winds back around to northerly through
the northern panhandle. This should keep the panhandle in the dry
weather through Wednesday night, although model solutions are
trying to bring another wave into to western gulf on Wednesday
night to head towards the panhandle. Presently the forecast models
were having issues locking on to a central solution the runs form
late Monday.

.LONG TERM.../Thursday through Tuesday as of 10 pm Monday/
Made no changes to the longer term due to short term weather
issues. Models continue to struggle with systems for late week,
with recent southward trend of low that moves in for Thu and Thu
night. Stream interaction remains the main issue with this system,
and models often struggle with that until shortly before the
event. Models are suggesting another system will move E across the
gulf Fri, but they have been struggling with this feature as well,
so little confidence in any model solution at this point. After
that, forecast confidence plummets even further due to big
differences in model handling of shortwaves moving across the
area, especially early next week. About the only feature that
appears to be reasonably forecastable is the upper ridge that
forms over the gulf for the weekend that should tend to keep
things on the dry and cool side. All in all, overall confidence in
the forecast is well below average during much of the long term,
except confidence is near average for the weekend.

&&

.AVIATION...Marginal ceilings 1000-3000 feet with a few lower
ones this morning of 4 to 8 hundred. Rain and snow also impacting
visibilities around Southeast Alaska between 1 to 5 miles at the
airports. The frontal band is sliding southeast to exit the
panhandle by afternoon, and some residual showers on the north of
the front will be moving SE along the coast associated with a
surface low. Conditions will improve through the morning and
midday with rain/snow ending and clouds lifting to above 3000 ft
by early evening. Perhaps a some isolated patchy fog tonight over
the southern panhandle, but should not be an major impact to air
traffic.

&&

.AJK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
PUBLIC...Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM AKST early this morning for
     AKZ025-026.
MARINE...Small Craft Advisory for PKZ012-013-021-022-033-041>043-051-052.
     Small Craft Advisory due to Seas for PKZ053.

&&

Bezenek/RWT

Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/Juneau

Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Misty Fjords

When
February 13, 6:47 AM AKST to 3:00 PM AKST
Where
Misty Fjords forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer

Post frontal snow showers hammered Hyder on the night of 2/13 into the morning of 2/14. Storm total was 15.3 inches new snow in 24 hours. Impact was snow removal.

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 2018

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: 738517.