Strong low pressure system produced heavy snow and blizzard conditions on the 24th of February 2020.
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.
The episode as NWS AFG wrote it up.
Strong low pressure system produced heavy snow and blizzard conditions on the 24th of February 2020.
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 24, 6:59 AM AKST, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 659 AM AKST Mon Feb 24 2020 .SYNOPSIS... Highlights are: Cold wind chills are occuring along much of North Slope which will continue through noon today then moderate as temps warm slightly. Snow and blowing snow over St Lawrence Island and the Bering Strait and Seward Pen will move north over NW Alaska this afternoon through Tue, and spread east across the North Slope on Tue. Expect 1-3 inches of snow over zones 213 211 210 209 207 today through Tue, and an inch or less over the North Slope on Tue. This will cause low visibility in blowing snow over zone 213 through tonight. East winds of 15 to 25 mph will develop Tue and Wed in channeled areas of the of the Southern Interior and the West Coast south of 65N and cause areas of blowing snow Tue and Wed. Aloft... A trough aloft from North of Utqiagvik to Northway will move east of the Alcan Border today. A ridge aloft from the Gulf of Alaska to Southwest Alaska and the Bering Sea will build over southern Alaska today and then persist into Wed. This will cause clearing over the southern half of Alaska today through Tue. Surface temperatures will fall well below normal at the surface under this clearing area. A second trough aloft over NE Russia will move over the Chukchi Sea tonight, to the Eastern North Slope on Tue PM, then east of the Alcan Border Tue night. Expect light snow or flurries with this trough to move east across the North Slope on Tue. Surface... A 1008 mb low 300 NM north of Wrangel Island will move north today. A weather front lies from this low to the Bering Strait to a 1009 MB low 300 NM southwest of Gambell. By 3PM Wed this front will move to Deadhorse to a 1018 MB low 100 NM west of Gambell. By 3am Tue the front will move east to Demarcation Point to a 1023 mb low near Point Hope with the front stretching southwest along the Dateline. This front will weaken in place Wed night. Snow and blowing snow is occuring along this front and low over the West Coast from the Bering Strait north today that will move over NW Alaska tonight, then spread east as light snow or flurries on Tue and Tue night. There is Southeast winds 15 to 25 mph along this front from Gambell to Point Hope, with stronger gusts and lowest vsby in blowing snow or zone 213 through tonight. A low moving into the northern Gulf of Alaska on Tue will move to the Gulf of Alaska Coast by Wed PM. This will spread clouds and a chance of snow to the southeast Interior on Tue night and Wed and causer a brief warm up to near normal temps then. && .DISCUSSION... At 00Z, models initialize well aloft and show similar solutions through 3pm Wed. After that time there a differences in the strength of a short wave moving north over South Central Alaska for Wed night and Thu, so there is uncertainty on clouds and weather moving over the Southern Interior Wed night and Thu. Precip fields area fairly similar between models. Will use a blend of the ECMF and GFS, as the NAM has issues aloft At the surface at 06Z, models verify about 3 mb too weak on the low north of Wrangel Island, and 2-3 mb too weak on the low near Kotzebue, and 2-3 mb too weak on the low near Whitehorse. The Wrangel Island low and the Whitehorse are moving away from Alaska, but for the this morning will still result in winds 2-3 kt stronger then models indicate along the Arctic Coast and over the SE Interior including the Alaska Range Passes. The low near Kotzebue is causing winds to be 5-10 kt stronger than model forecasts this morning over NW Alaska, but with the low being overtaken by another incoming front/low this afternoon, expect winds to just be 3-5 kt stronger than models indicate over NW this afternoon, and close to models forecasts tonight. Models show similar solutions through through 3pm Mon, then differ on the low moving north across the Gulf of Alaska with the GFS and ECMF keeping the low further east than the NAM. Favor the GFS and ECMF over the NAM at the surface, with adjustments for the previously mentioned features. Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Chill Advisory for AKZ201-AKZ202-AKZ203-AKZ204-AKZ209. Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ206-AKZ213. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ225. && JB FEB 20
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard conditions were observed at the Savoonga AWOS. Visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less at times in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust of 38 kt (44 mph) at the Savoonga AWOS.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 2020
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: 878804.