Areas along the northern southwest coastline were impacted by an extended period of gusty winds and whiteout conditions.
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 AFC wrote it up.
Areas along the northern southwest coastline were impacted by an extended period of gusty winds and whiteout conditions.
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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 28, 5:10 AM AKST, 7 hours 3 minutes earlier.
Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Anchorage AK 510 AM AKST Sun Feb 28 2021 .ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS... A rapid moving upper-low over the Gulf with a broad band of moisture and clouds across Southcentral will bring rain/snow mix over Prince William Sound and farther inland through Copper River Basin this morning. Cold air advection from upstream dipped south of the Alaska Range, which will enhance the potential for snow over parts of Matanuska Valley this morning. An amplified upper level ridge over eastern Bering is focused on advancing eastward through Southwest today followed by a vigorous upper low and frontal system. The latter pattern is already providing storm to hurricane force winds over the Bering Sea and portions of the Aleutians. Low cloud deck and stratus spreads over much of Southwest Alaska, portions of western Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak Island from last night into this morning. && .MODEL DISCUSSION... Models are in favorable synoptic agreement through at least Wednesday afternoon. The most busiest weather traffic will remain over the Bering Sea and Aleutians through Tuesday morning. Overall, solutions are in sync with the motion and placement of lows over the Gulf and Bering in the coming days. && .AVIATION... PANC...Cloud ceilings will continue to improve into the afternoon, with predominantly moderate northwest winds near the Airport today. Winds will gradually diminish tonight. Hence, VFR conditions will persist through the forecast period. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3/Today through Tuesday night)... A deep low over the northern Gulf this morning will exit eastward, reaching Southeast Alaska by this evening. Snow will linger in the Copper River Basin through midday then taper off this afternoon. Moderate to strong cold air advection will occur across the entire region in the wake of the low. This will produce widespread strong gusty winds through many of the mountain passes as well as through bays along the coast. The strongest winds are expected across the western Gulf and Kodiak Island (where a High Wind Warning remains in effect through the morning hours). Cold air advection may initially lead to some localized upslope snowfall, most likely along the western side of the Kenai and Chugach Mountains. However, drier and colder air will ultimately wind out bringing and end to any snow by this evening. Temperatures will hold steady or fall today as the arctic airmass settles in. Cloud cover and winds are the only thing keeping temperatures from plummeting. Winds will die down this evening over inland areas of Southcentral, so expect a more significant drop in temperatures tonight. However, the colder temperature will be short-lived, thanks to very progressive steering flow aloft. A front extending from a Hurricane force low near the western Aleutians will arrive in the western Gulf/Kodiak Island by early Monday morning and then continue a rapid eastward march across the Gulf and Southcentral during the day Monday. Arctic air wrapping into the Aleutian low will drive eastward so that the bulk of "warmer" air will pass south of Kodiak Island. As a result, expect precipitation to fall as all snow except perhaps the south end of Kodiak Island and over the Gulf waters. Do expect a low to form along the front and take a similar track to the current low across the northern Gulf. However, this low will not be as deep and there will be a broad trough aloft, so expect fairly homogeneous snow amounts across the region, generally on the order of 2 to 4 inches. A showery regime will then settle in Monday night through Tuesday night as a long-wave trough settles in, with the remnants of the Aleutian low ultimately exiting across the southern Gulf. Most of the activity will be centered over the Gulf with just a chance of showers over Southcentral. Temperatures will generally remain "chilly" and below average for this time of year. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA (Days 1 through 2)... There is a fast moving front associated with a strong North Pacific low. The leading edge of the precipitation shield will make its way to the southwest coast by tonight. On satellite imagery, this front has a fetch of moisture that spans to the Western Pacific north of Attu Island. The models are showing that this boundary will modify the the airmass over SW AK slightly, but the precipitation that falls is expected to be snow. Snow is expected to arrive later tonight across the area and will continue through Monday. With gusty and widespread windy, some areas will see blowing snow. A triple point low forms over the Alaska Peninsula Monday, and will sustain additional snowfall for the Western Alaska Range and AKPEN. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days 1 through 2)... This morning there is a strong low surface low near Attu Island. This is a fast moving system and the front will move eastward this forecast period bringing strong winds and another round of snow and blowing snow over the western Bering that will progress eastward today through early next week. A Winter Weather Advisory for blowing snow has been issued for Saint Paul and Saint George as high winds and snow will limit visibility to one half mile at times on Sunday. As cold air gets entrained into the low, southwesterly to westerly winds will follow, with hurricane force gusts likely across much of the western Bering Sunday into Monday. A High Wind Warning has been issued for the western Chain, including Shemya for today into Monday. This front will push eastward another High Wind Warning has been issued there as well for late Sunday through the majority of Monday for Adak. A third High Wind Warning has been issued for the central Aleutians, including Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, where there is potential for strong winds Monday into Tuesday. && .MARINE (Days 3 through 5: Tuesday through Thursday)... Bering: A well developed low and front tracks into Southwest Alaska for Tue. Model confidence is good. Widespread high end gale force winds and waves with areas of storm force winds over the Eastern Bering, Aleutians and Alaska Peninsula, diminishing Thu. Waves to 40 feet on the Bering side of the Eastern Aleutians and Alaska Peninsula, subsiding. A new low and front moves across into the Central Aleutians and Bering by Thu. Widespread high end gale force winds with storm force gusts spread into the Central Aleutians and Bering through Thu. Wave building to 25 feet over the Western Bering by Thu. Gulf of Alaska: A low exits the Southern Gulf Wed. Models vary, but confidence is good. Widespread small craft winds and waves with areas of gale force winds mostly south and west of Kodiak Island. Waves 18 feet building to 22 feet for Wed. Outflow winds from the Alaska Peninsula spread from the Shumagin Islands to the Barren Islands into the Western Gulf. Widespread gale force winds diminish to small craft winds for Thu. && .LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7: Wednesday through Saturday)... The long term forecast period continues to look quieter overall with most of the active weather remaining out over the Bering Sea with an occasional front moving into Southwest for potential light snow. The period from Wednesday through Saturday continues to suggest (and there is great model agreement on this) that an upper level Arctic/Siberian low will move southward through southern Alaska on Wednesday as an upper level ridge builds in across the Bering Sea. This upper level ridge is expected to move over Southwest Alaska on Thursday bringing the potential for some light snow though it seems with each new model run, these upper level features are being shifted slightly westward. Potential exists this front may never move onshore Southwest Thursday afternoon into early Friday timeframe. The main thing to take away from the pattern going forward during the forecast period above is colder than normal temperatures for southern Alaska along with below normal precipitation. Winds through gaps and passes appear to be the main theme with the cold air expected to generally move from a northwest to southeast orientation. This continues to not be the ideal setup for very strong winds out of the gaps and passes across Southcentral, except for possibly Whittier. Winds will be on the uptick, however, during this timeframe but the extent as to how strong they would get will be limited due to the way the cold air will be pushing through. Another stronger front may try to move into Southwest Alaska at the end of the forecast period Friday night into Saturday bringing more snow to Southwest and some slightly warmer temperatures, though, still remaining below normal. && .AFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...Winter Weather Advisory 131 141 155 195 High Wind Warning 171 185 187 191 MARINE...Hurricane Force Wind Warning 130 178 Storm Warning 131 132 138 150 170 171 173-177 185 Gale Warning 120 121 125 127 129 136 137 139 155 160 165 172 179 180 181 Heavy Freezing Spray Warning 130 138 139 150 160 165 180 185 && SYNOPSIS AND MODEL DISCUSSION...CMB SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...SEB SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS...PJS MARINE/LONG TERM...MK/MV
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard conditions impacted the Kuskokwim Delta with quarter mile to zero visibility and whiteout conditions in heavy snow and wind gusts 35-40 kts. The peak period of impact was Feb 28 from 1911 to 1956 AKST.
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, February 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: 971995.