A low pressure system with a strong front and sharp wind shift to the west caused high winds over the southern panhandle with damage. As it moved northward heavy snow fell over the Juneau to Icy Strait corridor.
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 AJK wrote it up.
A low pressure system with a strong front and sharp wind shift to the west caused high winds over the southern panhandle with damage. As it moved northward heavy snow fell over the Juneau to Icy Strait corridor. This was the second of two strong storms back to back.
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 Jan 29, 2:34 PM AKST, 13 hours 23 minutes earlier.
Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Juneau AK
234 PM AKST Wed Jan 29 2020
.SHORT TERM...Potentially damaging winds and heavy snowfall likely
over parts of SE AK tonight into Thursday.
Strong front that brought high winds and heavy precipitation to SE
AK last night and this morning now passing northward into BC and
the Yukon as of early this afternoon. Winds have gusted as high as
60 to 70 mph in Haines/Skagway late this morning and as high as 55
mph in Juneau where some minor tree damage has been reported. Rain
has been the predominate ptype for sea level Haines but as much
as 22 inches has been reported near Haines Customs and based on
cameras, near blizzard conditions are being experienced along the
Klondike Highway.
Attention now turns to the next developing storm system to the
SW. GOES 17 imagery this afternoon shows a deep upper trough
digging into the western Gulf behind the current system. Cold air
is pouring southward into the Gulf underneath this trough and
this air will be advected eastward and across the northern part of
the Panhandle tonight. To the south, a vigorous PV max embedded
within a 180kt jet streak will interact with the deep upper trough
over the Gulf late tonight. This disturbance will amplify as it
becomes favorably superimposed on the east side of the deep PV
anomaly associated with the upper trough to the west. The result
will be a rapidly intensifying surface cyclone which will be
tracking from the SE Gulf into and across the central Panhandle
Thursday morning. Most guidance deepens the low to sub-970mb as it
makes landfall somewhere along the eastern Gulf coast Thursday
morning. Low level wind fields will be nothing less than
impressive, with a 70-80kt low level jet preceding the front. Even
more impactful will be the developing bent-back warm front which
will affect areas from Sitka to Angoon and potentially Juneau
Thursday morning. Low level wind fields within the bent-back front
look to be 60 to 70kts. This will likely lead to a swath of
W'ly to SW'ly winds of 40 to 50kt with higher gusts approaching
60kt over the inside waters from Chatham Strait northward. Gusts
over land areas will approach 70 mph for a short time on Thursday
morning just south of the track of the low. Pressure rises
approaching 4mb/hr behind the system will lead to an isallobaric
wind up Lynn Canal Thursday afternoon will lead to max gale
conditions all along the Canal and into Haines and Skagway by late
Thursday afternoon.
Prior to the rapid wind shift, strong low to mid level
frontogenesis and moisture transport will lead to tremendous
precipitation rates. With snow levels hovering around 1000 ft late
tonight and gradients initially becoming light and northerly,
think precipitation will change to heavy snow from Juneau, Hoonah,
and Gustavus northward. Given the shear amount of dynamic forcing
for ascent, snowfall rates of 2 inches per hour are likely within
the trowel region of the low through the morning hours Thursday.
Will be issuing a Winter Storm Warning to cover the impacts from
both heavy snow and high winds from Juneau northward.
Still some track and timing differences in the models on the track
of the surface low. The GFS and EC have been the most consistent
in the track currently depicted in our forecast so decided to hold
steady with a track from just north of Sitka into the Juneau area.
Residents of SE AK should be prepared for rapidly changing weather
conditions and take precautions to protect property against damage
from the winds.
.LONG TERM.../Friday through Tuesday/ As of 10pm Tuesday. Cooling
trend expected for the beginning of the extended forecast with
predominately snow showers for the p-type. Low pressure over the
NW gulf will keep the region under SW onshore flow and cold air
advection (CAA) will enhance ocean effect showers Friday into
Saturday. There is potential for a couple inches of snow out of
these showers for most of the panhandle.
The low center will gradually track SE along the outer coast
through Saturday night. This will cause the main precip potential
to shift southward while increasing offshore flow over the
northern inner channels decreases pop there. By Sunday morning the
northerly winds through the inner channels will have set in along
with skies becoming partly cloudy or better. Sunday daytime is our
best chance for a dry, fair weather day in the extended, but also
likely the coldest day of the week.
Sunday night into Monday a new weather system looks to track
across the gulf from the west. This brings with it a warmer
airmass, so expect snow initially, changing to rain Monday night
into Tuesday.
Models are in good agreement through the long term period,
allowing for above average confidence in wet/dry periods and a
cooling trend through the weekend followed by a warming trend for
the start of next week.
&&
.AVIATION...Widespread IFR to LIFR conditions will occur Thursday
morning as heavy snow breaks out for PAGS, PAJN, and points north.
Additionally, dangerous low level wind shear conditions will be
present with SW winds aloft behind the low as high as 60 to 70kt
affecting central and northern terminals between 18Z Thursday and
00Z Friday.
&&
.AJK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
PUBLIC...High Wind Watch from Thursday morning through Thursday afternoon
for AKZ021-022-024>026.
High Wind Watch from late tonight through Thursday morning for
AKZ027-028.
Winter Weather Advisory from midnight tonight to noon AKST
Thursday for AKZ025.
Strong Wind until 6 PM AKST this evening for AKZ025.
Strong Wind until 3 PM AKST this afternoon for AKZ022-023.
High Wind Warning from 3 AM to 6 PM AKST Thursday for AKZ023.
Winter Storm Watch from midnight AKST tonight through Thursday
morning for AKZ020-021.
Strong Wind until midnight AKST tonight for AKZ019.
Winter Storm Warning until 6 PM AKST this evening for AKZ018.
MARINE...Storm Warning for PKZ041.
Gale Warning for PKZ012-013-022-031-032-034>036-042-043-051-052.
Small Craft Advisory for PKZ011-021-033-053.
&&
DEL/Ferrin
Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/JuneauPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
1039 PM AKST WED JAN 29 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0845 AM NON-TSTM WND DMG HYDABURG 55.21N 132.83W
01/29/2020 AK PUBLIC
REPORTS OF TWO ROOFS BEING BLOWN OFF IN HYDABURG.
&&
NAFPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
1041 PM AKST WED JAN 29 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0900 AM HEAVY SNOW YAKUTAT 59.55N 139.73W
01/29/2020 M5.7 INCH AK CO-OP OBSERVER
YAKUTAT COOP MEASURED 5.7 INCHES OF SNOW AT 9 AM
WEDNESDAY. SNOW HAD MIXED WITH RAIN ALREADY. AT 6 PM ON
TUESDAY AN ESTIMATED 3 INCHES WAS REPORTED BY THE GENERAL
PUBLIC.
&&
NAF3 heavy snow, 2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Ketchikan Airport ASOS measured a peak gust of 74mph at 653 AM on the 30th. The roof wind measured a peak gust of 109mph. A trained spotter north of Ward Cove reported downed trees and debris on the ground, power outages and a rock slide on the Tongass Highway.
Hoonah Police measured 8.2 inches of snow at 330PM, snow had ended. This is approximately a 9 hour total.
Pelican measured 7.5 inches of snow with showers still occurring.
Zarembo RAWS station measured gust of 62 MPH at 655 AM and a peak gust of 65 MPH at 955 AM.
The Juneau area saw 6 to 12 inches of snow in about 10 hours. The Juneau airport closed for a period of time due to very heavy rates and could not keep up with snow removal. The school district cancelled afternoon activities. AEL&P reported a power outage due to snow on tree branches and lines out the road.
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, January 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: 872047, 872049, 872050, 872048, 872130.