The combination of cold temperatures and southeasterly winds from 15 to 25 mph produced dangerous wind chills around 65 below zero in the Brooks Range November 28-30th.
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.
The combination of cold temperatures and southeasterly winds from 15 to 25 mph produced dangerous wind chills around 65 below zero in the Brooks Range November 28-30th.
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 Nov 27, 2:00 PM AKST, 10 hours earlier.
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 200 PM AKST Sat Nov 27 2021 .SYNOPSIS...Stratus and flurries in the Interior will linger, but expect some periods of clearing skies and cooling temperatures. Winds picking up on the summits in the Interior will produce Wind Chill near 60 below locally above treeline. Front on the Eastern Arctic Coast will bring some light snow to the area with local areas of blowing snow. West Coast remains mostly clear and cold with temperatures falling to around 40 below from Buckland to the Upper Kobuk. && .DISCUSSION... Models...Very good run to run continuity with the 27/12Z solutions, and they remain in good agreement through the short term. Much improvement in the agreement in the extended periods that are signaling a change in pattern. Temperatures continue to be tricky as clouds will have a huge impact. Going with a general blend of the solutions, but will keep some stratus and flurries in the interior. Aloft...At 500 hpa...Broad troughing persists with a 499 dam low over Minchumina and a trough extending northeast to a 502 dam low in the Northwest Territories. Troughing along extends north over the Eastern Arctic Coast to a 501 dam low 300 nm north of Banks Island. A 502 dam low will develop along a trough extending southeast from the low over Prince William Sound and move over the Upper Tanana Valley Sunday morning. Ridging extends across the Arctic from a 518 dam high over 80N and the Dateline southeast over 75N to and Banks Island. Riding extends south from the same high over Chukotka to a 524 dam high west of the Gulf of Anadyr then southeast over Nikolski. A 507 dam low has moved to 200 nm southwest of Amchitka. Sunday afternoon 500 dam low will be over McGrath, with a 499 dam low over Eagle and trough extending northeast to a 497 dam low over Banks Island. Low that was north of Banks Island will move into the high Arctic. Ridging over the Arctic will weaken as it slide over the high Arctic with the high moving south to 400 nm north of Wrangel Island. Ridging will continue to extend south to a 521 dam high west of the Gulf of Anadyr, then over the Bering Sea along 55N to Sand Point. The low that was south of Amchitka will be 100 nm south of Nikolski at 501 dam, while a second low will move to 200 nm south of Amchitka. At 850 hpa...Temperatures remain below -20C through Monday morning, then the -20C isotherm will be pushed north to the Yukon River and west to the Nulato Hills by Tuesday morning. Pools of temperatures around -30C have settled in north of the Brooks and Alaska Ranges. Surface...High in the Arctic with a 1034 mb center is 500 nm northwest of Utqiagvik with high pressure pushing southeast to the Brooks Range and east across the Arctic Plain. High pressure also extends south across the Chukchi Sea to the Pribilofs, then southeast. A 992 mb low remains anchored in Prince William Sound, and a decaying front has moved to the Eastern Brooks Range. Low that was south of Kodiak yesterday has moved to Sitka at 984 mb. A 1004 mb low that was in the Northwest Territories yesterday has moved to Banks Island and a weather front has pushed west over the Eastern Arctic Coast. Sunday afternoon The high in the Arctic will be 400 nm north of Wrangel Island at 1032 mb, with a 1024 mb high in the central Arctic Plain, and a 1019 mb high near Old Crow YT. High pressure also extends south to a 1024 mb high over the Chukotsk Peninsula, then southeast across Kodiak Island to the Northeast Pacific. The low persists in Prince William Sound at 992 mb, and the low that was near Sitka will be in the Southeast Yukon Territory at 1002 mb. A 960 mb low will move from near Kamchatka east to 100 nm south of Nikolski. Arctic Coast and Brooks Range...A low near Banks Island has pushed a weather front west over the Arctic Coast east of Utqiagvik. Stratus remains over the coastal areas with flurries. Some light snow east of Prudhoe Bay with light accumulations. Blowing snow will reduce visibility at times from Point Tompson east. area with some breaks as high pressure builds east over the Plains. Winds north to northeast at 5 to 15 mph for coastal areas west of Nuiqsut, with west to northwest winds from Nuiqsut east, and lighter winds in the Plains. Winds increasing this evening east of Prudhoe Bay to 15 to 25 mph. Temperatures tonight falling to 15 to 25 below for most areas along the coast, and to the 30s below in the Plains and Brooks Range. Sunday highs will range from the single digits below to the 20s below in the Plains. West Coast and Western Interior...Continues to be mostly clear except on the Capes and St Lawrence Island. Occasional snow squalls on the Capes and St Lawrence Island. Gusty north winds through the Bering Strait continue. Strong winds extend from Point Hope through the Strait to Cape Romanzof with the strongest winds around Little Diomede and on St Lawrence Island with gusts around 35 mph. Winds will continue from the north moving inland and diminish rapidly to less than 10 mph. Further inland winds will continue to be light and variable. North flow will keep things cool with lows overnight ranging from the single digits above on St Lawrence Island to the single digits below on the Capes to the 20s below from Nome east to the Middle Yukon Valley, to around 40 below from Buckland to Selawik to Ambler. Highs Sunday will range from near 10 above west of Nome to around 10 below around Nome, to the teens below in the Middle Yukon, and range from 20 below to around 30 below in the Kotzebue Sound Region and Upper Kobuk. Central and Eastern Interior...Inverted trough continues to hang over the Central Interior with stratus and flurries from Fairbanks south along the Parks Highway, and northwest to Bettles. The trough will remain in the area, but weaken so stratus will slowly erode away bu Sunday evening. Some clouds will move into the southeast interior with a chance of snow southeast of Delta Junction Sunday. Patchy fog in the valleys Sunday morning. Winds northeast to 5 mph for most locations with winds to 10 to 20 mph on summits. With cold temperatures continuing across the area Wind Chill near 60 below is possible above treeline on summits and in the White Mountains. Temperatures will remain cool, but clouds will be the great moderator. Areas that clear out will see temperatures fall into the 20 below to around 30 below range, while cloudy areas will be 5 to 10 degrees warmer. High Sunday in will range from around 10 below to around 25 below. Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None. Extended forecast for days 4 to 7...It will remain cool with clouds being the main factor in any warming that may occur. A strong low will move into the Northern Gulf of Alaska Tuesday night bringing a increased chance of snow to the Southeast Interior, while a inverted trough over the Western Interior will bring increasing chance of snow to the Central Brooks Range south across the Middle Yukon Valley and the Upper Kuskokwim Valley. The trough will move east Wednesday night and Thursday bringing increasing chances of snow to the Central and Eastern Interior. Strong north winds on the West Coast will continue to bring snow squalls to the Capes, mainly near open water through midweek. A strong low moving to the Bering Sea and Siberia will bring a warming trend to the West Coast Thursday and Friday along with strong south winds and a mix of precipitation. High pressure will hold over the Arctic. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ210. Small Craft Advisory for PKZ210. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ220-PKZ225-PKZ245. && SDB NOV 21
1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind chill temperatures from 55 to 65 below zero were observed through the Brooks Range passes and along the north side of the mountains. Anaktuvuk Pass reported a wind chill of -64 degrees F and the Sag River DOT camp along the Dalton Highway saw readings dip to -63 degrees F.
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, November 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: 992788.