A mature North Pacific low lifted north into the western Gulf of Alaska on December 25, as it interacted with a Bering Sea low, becoming an elongated trough in the upper levels as warm air aloft moved in. The resultant surface features became stagnant through the 27th as a slight warming and sometimes windy pattern impacted Southcentral Alaska.
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.
A mature North Pacific low lifted north into the western Gulf of Alaska on December 25, as it interacted with a Bering Sea low, becoming an elongated trough in the upper levels as warm air aloft moved in. The resultant surface features became stagnant through the 27th as a slight warming and sometimes windy pattern impacted Southcentral Alaska. This lead to areas of snow, blowing snow, a wintry mix and freezing rain depending on proximity to the coast, elevation and areas of downsloping/warming winds.
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 Dec 24, 4:56 PM AKST, 11 hours 39 minutes earlier.
Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Anchorage AK 456 PM AKST Sat Dec 24 2022 .ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS... At the upper levels, a large blocking high centered near the Chukchi Sea extends south over the western Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. An Arctic trough is elongated across the southern Alaska mainland and continues to spread a very cold airmass across the Mainland, eastern Bering, and AKPen. At the surface, a surface low and occluded front sits across the northern AKPen into Bristol Bay while a cold front is south of the AKPen. This frontal system is producing light snow across Kodiak Island, the northern AKPen, and Bristol Bay. Cold temperatures are evident across Southwest Alaska with single digits to below zero temperatures with wind chills ranging from -20 to -35 across the area with the coldest across the Kuskokwim Delta. Gusty winds are also occurring across the southwest with 30 to 40 mph sustained winds and gusts up to 50 mph. Across the Pribilofs and Aleutians temperatures are in the 20s along the Pribilofs and 30s across the Aleutian chain. Temperatures along the AKPen are in the 20s across southern areas with single digits to teens across the northern AKPen. Gusty winds are also seen across the Pribilofs, Bering Sea, and eastern Aleutians with 30 to 40 knot winds with lighter winds across the central and western Aleutians. Over the gulf a compact surface low continues to spin across the northeastern Gulf bringing light snow near eastern Prince William Sound. Cold temperatures continued to be observed across Southcentral with negative teens to single digits inland and teens to 20s near the coast. && .MODEL DISCUSSION... Models are in good agreement through Monday with only minor differences. The low bringing cold air into the Southwest and Bering Sea is handled fairly well as it tracks west across the Bering through Monday with only minor differences in the track and position of the low. A frontal system with strong winds will track into the Gulf Sunday and Monday with good model agreement. Additionally, the parent low to this front will track towards Kodiak Island with only minor differences in track and strength, but overall it is handled well by all the models. The main forecast challenges will be the possibility of blowing snow across the Pribilofs through tonight and Sunday and the strength of the Mat valley winds Sunday afternoon through Monday morning. && .AVIATION... PANC...VFR conditions will persist through this TAF period. Gusty northerly winds are expected to gradually ease through this afternoon and then increase tomorrow morning with gusts of 25 to 30 knots possible. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3)... A fairly active pattern will continue over the next few days across Southcentral Alaska. Low pressure will move into the Gulf on Sunday and will result in widespread gale force winds with areas of storm force winds in the northern Gulf. These winds will gradually ease as the low lifts northward through Monday night. The biggest forecast challenge is snowfall amounts and precipitation type across Kodiak Island and along the southern coast of the Kenai Peninsula. The precipitation is likely to be confined to the windward side of the mountains due to strong downsloping on the leeward side as a result of strong cross barrier flow. There will be a persistent Matanuska Valley wind during the period. However, this wind will remain in the 12-20 kt range and gusts in the 20-25 kt range. A Wind Chill Advisory remains in effect for Thompson Pass due to wind chill values reaching -40F at times. Temperatures will become warmer over the next few days across Southcentral as the aforementioned low brings warm air advection across the region. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA (Days 1 through 3: Today through Tuesday)... A developing low pressure system in Bristol Bay will bring significant snowfall accumulations and blowing snow to parts of Bristol Bay tonight into Sunday morning. Some adjustments have been made to the Winter Weather Advisory with the location of heaviest snow accumulations and lowest visibilities from blowing snow. Snow accumulations up to 10 inches can be expected through the morning hours along a line from north and west of Dillingham to the Alaska Peninsula between King Salmon and Pilot Point. Snowfall accumulations approach zero rather abruptly east of Koliganek and King Salmon. Areas that see snow will be at risk for half mile visibilities as strong northerly winds continue to flow offshore. Low visibilities will end with the snow from east to west on Sunday morning as the low pressure system exits into the Bering Sea. Elsewhere, the strong northerly offshore winds will be the main weather influence keeping Southwest Alaska cold through the short term. Wind chills in the -30s continue this evening in parts of the Kuskokwim Delta and Lower Kuskokwim Valley before temperatures begin to warm Sunday morning. The warming will be most pronounced in the lee of the Aleutian Range, as well as the Kilbuck and Ahklun Mountains where easterly flow aloft is causing downslope compressional warming. This will gradually lead to the development of a very thin layer of warm air aloft across Southwest Alaska as a low in the Gulf approaches on Sunday. Some scattered, light precipitation will be possible over Bristol Bay Sunday and Sunday night in the presence of this warm layer, which may lead to some sleet mixing with snow at times. Then, colder air works in on Monday as the low moves in over Southwest Alaska. Light snow will be the result Monday and Monday night, primarily over Bristol Bay, with accumulations of only a few inches expected. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days 1 through 3: Today through Tuesday)... A surface low centered in Bristol Bay this evening will track westward into the eastern Bering Sea tonight. Ahead of the low, widespread light snow will develop and move across the Pribilof Islands. This is now expected to occur while 40 mph northerly winds are still streaming across the Bering. Blowing snow will therefore be likely tonight for the Pribilofs and last through Sunday morning, when the low center tracks near the islands and winds begin to diminish. The system then continues westward through the Bering on Sunday before dipping south toward the Aleutian Islands by Monday. Snow amounts of two inches or less are expected with this system for the central and western Aleutians. Calmer weather returns for Tuesday as winds gradually diminish across the Bering. $$.LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7: Wednesday through Saturday)... The overall pattern for the first half of the extended outlook is likely to remain about the same, with a broad Aleutian low drifting slowly along and south of the Aleutian Chain out west through at least Friday. A loosely-defined longwave trough will persist aloft across the Bering, resulting in an unsettled pattern out west with gusty winds likely in gale force range wrapping around the main low at the surface near the southern Bering on Wednesday and Thursday. Light onshore flow over Southcentral should keep any areas of snow and coastal rain confined near the Prince William Sound, eastern Kenai Peninsula and across Kodiak Island, with most inland areas remaining dry and seasonably mild. Very weak steering flow again should result in very slow progression of both the larger scale pattern and smaller waves rotating around the Bering trough/low, with the vast majority of the Pacific jet likely to remain well south of the outlook area until the end of the week. This weak steering also causing models to struggle with the handling of smaller scale features, with the details for individual perturbations really falling apart by Thursday and Friday. There are some early indications for a shift in the pattern to commence by Saturday, as the low meandering near the Aleutians finally begins to shift into the western Gulf and amplifies the upstream ridge over the Gulf and portions of Southcentral. This could result in much heavier precipitation spreading along the coast between Kodiak and the Prince William Sound by this weekend. However, large model spread by this point in time still leaves much of the remaining details left to be determined. && .AFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC... Winter Weather Advisory: 195, 161 Wind Chill Advisory: 131 MARINE... Gale Warning: 127, 136, 137, 139, 150, 160, 179, 180, 181, 185, 411, 412, 414, 352 Storm Warning: 119, 120, 130, 131, 132, 138, 351 Heavy Freezing Spray: 139, 140, 160, 179, 180, 185, 412, 414 FIRE WEATHER...NONE. && SYNOPSIS AND MODEL DISCUSSION...RC SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA...ED SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS...CQ LONG TERM...AS
4 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Alaska 511 reported whiteout conditions with poor visibility and snow on December 25th at 1127PM.
Alaska 511 reported freezing rain and icy roads.
Freezing rain reported at both Ted Stevens Airport and Elmendorf Airforce Base.
Alaska 511 reported freezing rain on the Sterling Highway.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, December 2022
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: 1098743, 1098748, 1098747, 1098745.