Winter Storm in Alaska, February 5 to 7, 2019

Name: Winter Storm in Alaska, February 5 to 7, 2019
Start: 2019-02-05T18:00
End: 2019-02-07T00:00
Location: Alaska

February 5 to 7, 2019 · NWS AJK · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

Southwest flow aloft brought relatively warm moist air over the Panhandle on the afternoon of 2/5. Cold air was trapped in many places with favorable conditions for first for freezing rain, then snow. On the night of 2/5, a cold front stalled along the outer coast for additional accumulation of new snowfall. Snow persisted, although light, into 2/7 and was truly a dump.

Freezing drizzle was observed at the beginning of the event, changing to snow by 2000. The Yakutat sounding showed a deep dry layer in the snow growth region. This region was saturated through the night with a change to snow. Juneau WFO began observing snow at 2200 on 2/5 with a glaze beforehand. The front then followed and precipitation ended from north to south. Although some areas including Ketchikan stayed snow far longer than originally forecast, likely due to light winds, heavier rates, and better forcing aloft.

The big impact was heavy snow removal. Storm totals ranged from 6 to 12 inches new snowfall from this storm.

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 5, 2:51 PM AKST, 3 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 2:51 PM AKST, 3 hours 9 minutes before

Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Juneau AK
251 PM AKST Tue Feb 5 2019

.SHORT TERM...The forecast in the first 24-36 hours evolving as
anticipated so far. The first trough starting to spread rain and
snow to the panhandle and northeast gulf coast.

Along the outer coast from Yakutat to Prince of Wales Island,
precipitation associated with the front will start as snow, but
with warm air advection rapidly warming temperatures, a
changeover to rain will quickly occur. An exception will be the
Pelican Area where the changeover is not expected until Wednesday
morning; therefore, approximately 4 inches of snow is expected.

Further inland the amounts increase considerably associated with a
much cooler low level atmospheric temperature profile and
increased lift. This has prompted winter storm warnings to be
issued for the Gustavus, Juneau, and Petersburg Areas. The Juneau
is expected to see the largest accumulations where 8 to 14 inches
of snowfall is expected by the time snow ceases Wednesday evening.

More editing was done on the Wednesday night into Thursday time
frame as the system exits the panhandle to the southeast. Precip
ending and then quickly clearing of clouds. High pressure ridge
over the western and central gulf will be interacting a cool NW
Canada high. The outflow will start late Wednesday night in the
Lynn canal area, and as high pressure building into central
British Columbia the pressure gradient will stack right along the
coast mountains, making more of the easterly gradients through
interior passes.

.LONG TERM.../Thursday through Monday/...As of 10 pm Monday. After
the mid-week winter storm mentioned above makes its way across the
area, expecting a transition to a period of dry and cool weather
late this week through the weekend. The system will be exiting
the panhandle from north to south fairly quickly Thursday morning.
High amplitude upper ridge will build in over the Gulf Thursday
and extend into the northern Yukon-Alaskan border. At the surface,
high pressure will build in and reside over the central gulf
through Saturday. Even stronger high pressure will build over NW
Canada Thursday, then move southeast across western Canada through
Saturday as an upper trough dives south Friday. Similar pattern
to our cold air outbreak last week, except this time it is shifted
further east. Therefore anticipating northerly outflow but not
nearly as strong of winds or as severe cold as last week.

For the most part, models are in fairly good agreement with the
overall dry northerly flow pattern through early Saturday.
Afterwards, details become more uncertain as models try to depict
ways moisture may skirt over the top of the ridge, or even break
down the ridge. The question remains how strong this blocking
ridge will persist. The more likely scenario is that southeast AK
should stay dry through the end of the week but chance of snow
remains in the forecast for Sunday and Monday. Only minor
adjustments were made to the previous mid range forecast.
Preferred an ensemble approach Thursday and Friday, and then
trended towards the new WPC solution through the weekend.

&&

.AVIATION...Central panhandle aviation sites will see the
conditions change over to IFC or MVFC overnight and into early
Wednesday with the incoming storm due to snow impacting visibility
and ceilings. Coastal sites likely to Marginal levels as precip
may be more liquid in from. Air travel will likely be impacted
with system expected to continue across the central and southern
panhandle through the day.

&&

.AJK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
PUBLIC...Winter Storm Warning from midnight tonight to midnight AKST
     Wednesday night for AKZ026.
     Winter Storm Warning from 9 PM this evening to 6 PM AKST
     Wednesday for AKZ025.
     Winter Weather Advisory until 9 AM AKST Wednesday for AKZ022.
     Winter Storm Warning from 6 PM this evening to 3 PM AKST
     Wednesday for AKZ020.
     Winter Weather Advisory from 6 PM this evening to noon AKST
     Wednesday for AKZ021.
MARINE...Small Craft Advisory for PKZ036-043-051-052.
     Small Craft Advisory due to Seas for PKZ022-041-042.

&&

Bezenek/DDH

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

Event by event

5 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Glacier Bay

When: February 5, 6:00 PM AKST to February 6, 3:00 PM AKST
Where: Glacier Bay forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Storm total snowfall 5 inches plus freezing rain. The impacts were slippery conditions and snow removal.

Winter Storm, Eastern Chichagof Island

When: February 5, 6:00 PM AKST to February 6, 3:00 PM AKST
Where: Eastern Chichagof Island forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Storm total snowfall 4 to 5 inches plus freezing rain. The impacts were slippery conditions and snow removal.

Winter Storm, Eastern Baranof Island and Southern Admiralty Island

When: February 5, 6:00 PM AKST to February 6, 3:00 PM AKST
Where: Eastern Baranof Island and Southern Admiralty Island forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Storm total snowfall 8 inches plus ice fog, glaze, and freezing rain. The impacts were slippery conditions and snow removal.

Winter Storm, Juneau Borough and Northern Admiralty Island

When: February 5, 9:00 PM AKST to February 6, 6:00 PM AKST
Where: Juneau Borough and Northern Admiralty Island forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Storm total snowfall 8 to 10 inches plus ice fog, glaze, and freezing rain. The impacts were slippery conditions and snow removal. The snow amounts varied widely in surrounding areas.

Winter Storm, Inner Channels From Kupreanof Island to Etolin Island

When: February 6, 12:00 AM AKST to February 7, 12:00 AM AKST
Where: Inner Channels From Kupreanof Island to Etolin Island forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Storm total snowfall 6 to 10 inches plus ice fog, glaze, and freezing rain. The impacts were slippery conditions and snow removal. The snow amounts varied widely in surrounding areas.

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

Every storm in Alaska in 2019 Every state in 2019 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 2019

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: 798436, 798611, 798617, 798618, 798620.