Low pressure and a strong pressure gradient produced low wind chills across the Eastern North Slope from March 3rd to March 5th 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.
Low pressure and a strong pressure gradient produced low wind chills across the Eastern North Slope from March 3rd to March 5th 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 Mar 2, 3:02 PM AKST, 8 hours 58 minutes earlier.
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 302 PM AKST Mon Mar 2 2020 .SYNOPSIS... Highlights are: Northwest winds 25 mph gusting to 35 mph, and blowing snow with low visibility, will continue through tonight through Alaska Range Passes, and over the Alaska Highway from Dot Lake to the Alcan Border. Very cold temperatures over the North Slope and Western Alaska will spread to the Eastern Interior on Tue, with temperatures remaining well below normal through Fri. Aloft... A very deep long wave trough that lies from the Canadian Archipelago across Northern Alaska and into the Eastern Bering Sea will progress east over Mainland AK on Tue, then drop deep across the Gulf of AK on Wed, then move over NW Canada and SE Alaska on Thu as a long wave ridge build. over the Bering Sea on Tue, then over Western Alaska on Wed, and over Mainland Alaska on Thu. Thereafter there will be a series of short wave troughs moving through this ridge and across Alaska, with flow becoming southwest to west over the weekend. This all means that Northern Alaska will see a significant cooling trend through Wed with temps dropping to well below normal, and remain cold into Fri, followed by a warm up to near normal with a significant chance of snow over the weekend. 850 MB temperatures...are -20C or colder most of Northern Alaska. Temperatures will drop a few degrees across the North Slope and Northwest Alaska through Tue, but will drop 4-8C across the Interior and SW Alaska through Tue. Temps will remain very cold through Wed, with temps warming 5-10C across Western Alaska on Thu as the ridge aloft builds there. Surface... A ridge of high pressure from the Beaufort Sea to southwest Alaska will persist tonight, then the ridge will dissipate over the Beaufort Sea but persist over Interior Tue. The high over the Interior will build from Wed into Thu. Clear skies under this high will allow lows in the 20 to to 40s below tonight under the ridge. A 980 mb low in Prince William Sound will weaken slowly through Wed, and then drift south on Wed night and Thu. An occluded front from this low to a 985 mb low near Burwash Landing will weaken through Tue. This is front is causing snow over the Interior southeast of Eagle to Denali that will diminish from the northwest tonight, with a chance of snow south of Tok lingering into Tue and Wed. These two lows combined with the high over the Interior are causing NW winds 15g30kt and blowing snow with reduced visibility along the Alaska Highway from Dot Lake to the Alcan Border and through Alaska Range Passes south of Denali Park Entrance and Black Rapids. The winds and blowing snow will taper off Tue am along the Alaska Highway. The winds will decrease to 15g25kt in Alaska Range Passes Tue, but then persist into Wed night and will keep blowing and drifting snow occuring in those locations. A 1002 mb low 200 NM northwest of Utqiagvik will move to 80 NM north of Utqiagvik as a 1005 mb low by 3pm Tue, to 400 NM northeast of Demarcation Point as a 1012 mb low by 3pm Wed, and then move to Banks Island Wed night. A trough stretching from this low south to the Seward Pen will move to Utqiagvik to Bethel by 3am Tue, to Deadhorse to Mcgrath by 3pm Tue, to Barter Island to Denali by 3am Wed, to Old Crow to Tok by 3pm Wed, and east of the Alcan Border Wed night. Stratus clouds along with flurries and fog along this trough will move southeast with the trough over the West Coast and Western Interior tonight, over the North Slope and Interior on Tue, and then linger over the Eastern North Slope and Eastern Interior on Wed. Expect NW winds 10-20 kt along the West Coast along and following this trough. Will see higher gusts in the Bering Strait. Temperatures under these clouds will be generally zero to 20 below. A low west of Wrangel Island will move to 100 NM North of Point Hope as a 1006 mb low by 3pm Tue, to near Kotzebue as a 1016 mb low by 3am Wed, and then dissipate Wed. This will bring another batch of flurries and fog to the West Coast Tue and Wed, with snow more likely in the Bering Strait area Tue and Tue night. Clouds will decrease Wed through Thu as the surface high and the ridge aloft builds, and this will cause surface temps to fall into the 20s and 30s below Wed and Thu, with 40s below in valley locations. High temperatures will be in the zero to 20 below range Wed and Thu. && .DISCUSSION... Models initialize well aloft and show similar solutions through 3pm Wed, then start to see differences on a short wave moving north over the Ern Gulf of AK and the ridge building over Northern AK. The NAM begins to differ from the GFS and ECMF on these features Wed night and Thu, so prefer using a blend of the GFS and ECMF. Model precip fields are similar through Wed, with slight differences through Thu. Models have been clearing precip too fast with the system moving east across Interior Alaska, and expect precip to linger in upslope areas along the Alaska Range and from Delta Junction east tonight, with a chance of snow from Tok south Tue and Wed. Precip along the West Coast should mostly remain flurries due to the very cold airmass, with the exception of the Bering Strait are which will see some upslope snow and may get a few tenths of an inch. At 15Z at the surface, models verify well except that there is a slightly tighter gradient over NW Alaska, and over the SE Interior and Alaska Range, than models indicate. Models show similar solutions through 3pm Tue, then the NAM relaxes the gradient through the Alaska Range more than the GFS and ECMF. Will use a blend of the GFS and ECMF, but bump up winds through this evening 3-5 kt over NW AK, and bump up winds 10kt through Alaska Range Passes and over the SE Interior from Dot Lake to Northway through tonight. Bottom Line is, we will use a blend of the GFS and ECMF for precip, clouds, temps, and winds, but linger precip longer in time than models indicate over the AK Range tonight, and over the SE Interior through Tue, and will keep precip as flurries over the North Slope, West Coast and Western Interior with incoming system, except for the Bering Strait are which will have high pops and precip amounts. Will also adjust winds up from models 3-5 kt over NW AK through this evening, and up 10 KT through AK Range Passes and the Upper Tanana Valley through tonight. Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ224-AKZ225-AKZ226. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ210. && JB MAR 20
1 extreme cold/wind chill, 1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Low wind chills were observed at the Deadhorse ASOS with winds of 15 mph or greater and cold temperatures produced wind chills of 65 below or colder.
Low wind chills were observed at the Point Thomson AWOS with winds of 15 mph or greater and cold temperatures produced wind chills of 63 below or colder.
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: 876955, 877007.