Moisture plume associated with a strong low pressure system in the Bering moved across the Pacific Coast early December. This plume brought warning level snow amounts to Yakutat and Juneau areas with lesser amounts to the rest of the northern panhandle.
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.
Moisture plume associated with a strong low pressure system in the Bering moved across the Pacific Coast early December. This plume brought warning level snow amounts to Yakutat and Juneau areas with lesser amounts to the rest of the northern panhandle.
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 Dec 4, 4:43 PM AKST, 13 hours 17 minutes earlier.
Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Juneau AK
443 PM AKST Sat Dec 4 2021
.UPDATE...Winter Storm Watches were issued for portions of the
northern and central panhandle due to the potential for moderate
snow. One Winter Storm Watch was issued for Yakutat where the
snow is expected to start late Sunday night and last into Monday
night. The other is for a large portion of the north/central
panhandle where snow is expected to start Monday afternoon and
last into Tuesday morning. Snow is expected to mix with or change
to rain - see the long term discussion for more details.
.SHORT TERM...Clearer skies have been the story across much of the
panhandle throughout the day as offshore flow has brought drying
conditions through the area. While some scattered snow showers
continue to move across the area, the noteworthy snow
accumulations associated with the parade of impulses from the past
week have finally come to an end. Sunday will see cloud cover
rebuild across much of the area as the outflow winds diminish in
intensity and ultimately change direction, with S flow coming to
dominate the Inside Passage. Some snow showers will be possible
through the day during this period as weak impulses move ahead of
an approaching system. Expect snow accumulations with these
impulses to also remain on the low side. A low moving S of Haida
Gwaii on Sunday continues to look less and less impactful, and
will likely do little more than provide a few additional snow
showers to the far S panhandle. Temperatures will continue to be
chilly, though some moderation is anticipated beginning Sunday
night.Forecaster confidence is average.
.LONG TERM.../Monday through Thursday night/...The mid-range
forecast begins with the next low pressure system tracking along
the AK peninsula to near the Kenai Peninsula by late Monday night.
The low then slowly moves towards Prince William Sound by Tuesday
night before picking up speed and heading southeast across the
central Panhandle. The associated front impacts the panhandle
Monday, with most of the energy staying near the low. This looks
to limit the wind impacts associated with the front. Currently,
models are pointing to less than gales for the outside waters with
some small crafts for the inside.
The main story with this system still is the potential for
moderate snow accumulations for the northern and central
Panhandle. Models are still struggling a bit with timing the
onset of precipitation, with the NAM being the fastest, then the
ECMWF, then the GFS. Mostly went with a GFS/ECMWF combination.
This starts the precipitation in Yakutat around midnight Sunday
night, Monday afternoon for the Icy Strait corridor, and the rest
of the Panhandle by Tuesday morning. QPF estimates are between 1-2
inches with lesser amounts for Northern Lynn Canal and higher
amounts over the high terrain. The main forecast challenge for
today was estimating how much of that QPF will fall as snow. Most
locations will see precipitation starting as snow. 850mb temps and
1000-850mb thickness values suggest that the central and northern
panhandle will see accumulating snow before mixing with or
changing to rain Tuesday morning. The transition to a mix or rain.
Models do show the precipitation type changing back to snow
Tuesday night for the central Panhandle. Yakutat has the potential
to see 6-10 inches of snow before mixing. The Icy Strait corridor
including Juneau has the potential for 4-8 inches before the
changeover. Lower amounts are in the forecast further south (i.e
Petersburg, Kake, Wrangell).
After this storm moves off to the southeast, a brief period of
rain and snow showers is in the forecast before the next storm
arrives late week. Forecast confidence is average given model
timing differences - if the precipitation arrives earlier then
snow amounts could be higher.
&&
.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...Winter Storm Watch from Monday afternoon through Tuesday
afternoon for AKZ019>022-024>026.
Winter Storm Watch from late Sunday night through Tuesday
morning for AKZ017.
MARINE...None.
&&
GFS/BFL
Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/Juneau3 heavy snow, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Cooperative Observer in Auke bay of Juneau reported 7.4 inches of new snowfall.
NWS Employee Reported 6 to 8 inches of new snowfall on Douglas Island in Juneau.
Former NWS Employee reported 10 inches of storm total snow. 38 inches of snow on the ground, with rain at time of observation.
A trained spotter reports 7.1 inches of new snow in Haines since the afternoon of the 6th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2021
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: 1000177, 1000182, 1000190, 1000200.