Strong low pressure system produced heavy snow and blizzard conditions along the Yukon River Delta from February 29th to March 1st 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 along the Yukon River Delta from February 29th to March 1st 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 29, 4:50 PM AKST, 7 hours 10 minutes earlier.
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 450 PM AKST Sat Feb 29 2020 .SYNOPSIS... A strong low in the southeast Bering Sea will move NE across Alaska mainland tonight through Mon. This will bring blizzard conditions to the Yukon Delta tonight and Sun, heavy snow to the Southwest Interior tonight through Sun night, and 4-6 inches of snow to the Eastern Interior south of the Yukon River from Sun through Mon. This will also bring heavy snow to the south slopes of the Alaska Range tonight through Mon, with strong south winds and blowing snow through passes tonight through Sun morning. Temperatures will warm over the Interior tonight through Sun, then cool slightly Mon, with a stronger cooling on Tue. Expect well below normal temps over Northern Alaska Tue through next weekend. Aloft... A deep long wave trough stretches from the Canadian Archipelago across northwest Alaska into the Bering Sea will progress east over Mainland Alaska by Mon and then remain in place through next weekend. A strong short wave trough in the SE Bering will move over SW Mainland of AK on Sun, then over the SE INterior on Mon, and east of the Alcan Border Mon night. Heavy snow will spread northeast over SW Alaska tonight and Sun, and then over the SE Interior Sun through Mon. A strong short wave north of Eastern Russia will move over NW Alaska Mon, and over SW Alaska on Tue. This will bring flurries and much colder temps to he North Slope and Western AK Mon, and to the Interior on Tue. 850 MB temperatures range from -10C over the YK Delta and Alaska range to -24C along and north of the Brooks Range.. Temps will warm a few degrees over the SE Interior through Sun, while temps will fall a few degrees Sun over the Brooks Range, North Slope and West Coast on Sun. All areas will see significant cooling on Mon and Tue. This will result in warm up at surface south of the Yukon River, with night times lows much less extreme, while day times highs will see a light rise. Then will see cooling Mon and Tue, with temps returning to well below normal by Tue night all areas and remain cold through next weekend. Surface... A 1005 mb low near Wainwright will move to Demarcation Point as a 1002 mb low by 3am Sun, then continue east. Light snow and fog along and east of this low will spread east across the Arctic Coast tonight. Snow will taper off to flurries west of this low. Expect SW winds 15-20 kt just south of this low to spread east across the Arctic Coast tonight. A strong low in the Southeast Bering Sea will move to near Sparrevohn as a 981 mb low by 3pm Sun, and then to the Eastern Alaska Range as a 989 mb low by 3pm Mon. An occluded front that lies from this low to King Salmon will move to Bethel to the Kenai Pen by 3am Sun, to Sparrevohn to Eagle by 3pm Sun, to Denali to Old Crow by 3am Mon, to Delta Junction to Eagle by 3pm Mon, then east of the Alcan Border Mon night. Heavy snow will spread north with this front over SW Alaska tonight and then become moderate snow over the southern Interior on Sun, and spread to the SE INterior on Mon, then taper off over the SE Interior Mon night. Also expect north winds 25-35kt over the West Coast tonight, causing blowing snow in zones 213 212, and blizzard conditions in zone 214, before winds decrease on Sun PM. This will cause 6-12 inches of snow over the SW Interior tonight through Sun night, 6-12 inches over S Slopes of the Alaska Range tonight through Mon, and 4-6 inches across the SE Interior south of the Yukon River Sun into Mon. This will also cause strong south winds through Alaska Range Passes late tonight through Sun AM, and could cause strong winds along the Alaska Highway from Tanacross to Dot Lake from late tonight through Sun Noon. High pressure building over the INterior west of the front Mon will cause NW winds 15-25 mph and blowing snow along the Alaska Highway Mon, and through Alaska Range Passes. Winds and blowing snow will decrease on Tue. && .DISCUSSION... Models verify well aloft and show similar solution through Tue. Model precip fields show similar areal coverage through through Tue, and fairly similar amounts. Will use a blend of the ECMF, GFS, and NAM for precip areal coverage and amounts, for clouds, and for temps. At the surface at 18Z, models all are 4 mb too weak on the frontal wave low just west of Utqiagvik, and 4 mb too weak on the low in the southern Bering. We will adjust by increasing winds and snow, and slowing eastward movement of front wave near Utqiagvik. We will also bump up winds along the West Coast and Western Interior, and slow the incoming movement of the low and its snow over SW Alaska tonight to account for the deeper Bering low. Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Chill Advisory for AKZ211. Winter Storm Warning for AKZ214-AKZ215. Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ212-AKZ213-AKZ216-AKZ221-AKZ222- AKZ225-AKZ226-AKZ227. Gale Warning for PKZ210. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ200-PKZ210-PKZ225. && JB FEB 20
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard conditions were observed at the Marshall AWOS. Visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less at times in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust of 36 kt (42 mph) at the Marshall 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, March 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: 878814.