Strong winds combined with an Arctic airmass resulted in very cold wind chill values across the North Slope.
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.
Strong winds combined with an Arctic airmass resulted in very cold wind chill values across the North Slope.
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 Feb 12, 1:15 PM AKST, 15 hours 11 minutes earlier.
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 115 PM AKST Sat Feb 12 2022 .SYNOPSIS... The North Slope will continue with very cold temperatures and low wind chill values through the weekend and into next week while the Western Interior will have near normal temperatures through Sunday. Three to five inches of snow are expected over the southern portions of the Western Interior through Sunday night with clear and cool conditions if not well below normal temperatures are expected into next week. The West Coast will also remain much colder than normal into next week, with very cold wind chills. The Eastern Interior will have near normal temperatures through Sun with 3-5 inches of snow expected through Sunday evening. Clearing and below normal temperatures are expected over the Central and Eastern Interior this next week. && .DISCUSSION... Upper Levels and Analysis... A 500 hpa, a complex longwave stretching from the North Pole to near Point Barrow and into the Bering Sea will remain in place as as a series of shortwaves and upper level high pressure systems progress rapidly eastward over the northern Pacific and Gulf of Alaska. This will provide alternating periods of westerly flow and light snow as well as dryer southerly flow over the West Coast, the Western, Central and Eastern Interior through the weekend. A broad ridge builds north out of the Northern Pacific early next week and will produce merge with an upper level high pressure system over Siberia and limit storminess over Northern Alaska for much of next week. A pool of below normal temperatures at 850 mb will remain over northern Alaska and help support below normal temperatures and a relatively quiet weather pattern for much of next week over Northern Alaska. Model Discussion... The 12/12z model suite initialized again initialized at 12z and verified at 18z too weak by several mb for the low in the High Arctic and the low moving into Southwest Alaska. Winds have been adjusted in the forecast to account for the initialization and verification shortfalls. The 12z model suite did initialize and verify well as far as position of various synoptic scale features. Central and Eastern Interior... A front pushing into the Central and Eastern Interior this evening will bring with it warmer temperatures along with more clouds and periods of light snow beginning this evening. Storm total snowfall through Sunday evening is expected to be between 3 and 5 inches however favored upslope areas mainly south of Trims Camp along the Richardson Highway in the Alaska Range are expected to receive between 7 and 14 inches of snow through Sunday evening. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for this area. West Coast and Western Interior... Periods of snow that began this morning in the Southern portions of the West Coast and Western Interior and that have now pushed north into the Lower Koyukuk and Middle Yukon Valleys will continue into Sunday. Storm total snowfall in these areas is also expected to be in the 3 to 5 inch range with higher amounts in higher terrain. Skies begin to clear out tomorrow as high pressure builds into the area. Temperatures will fall into the 30s and 40s below by Monday morning from Galena north and into the single digits to teens below to the south of Galena. Temperatures will struggle to reach the teens and 20s below north of Galena and will be in the single digits above and below south of Galena on Monday. North Slope and Brooks Range... Very cold temperatures will continue on the North Slope with low temperatures tonight and Sunday night dropping into the 40s below inland and into the 30 below along the coast. High temperatures will hover in the 30s below tomorrow and Monday. Similar temperatures are expected for the rest of the week. High pressure will remain over the North Slope through the week with no large storms expected. Extended Forecast Days 4-7... Quiet but cold weather pattern is expected this week with no large storms indicated at this time over Northern Alaska. Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Chill Advisory for AKZ207-AKZ210-AKZ213. Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ212-AKZ215-AKZ216-AKZ220-AKZ226. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ210-PKZ220. && CCC FEB 22
2 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Kuparuk reported wind chill values colder than -60 for over 24 hours with -68 degrees Fahrenheit being the coldest value reported.
Point Thomson reported wind chill values colder than -60 degrees Fahrenheit for over 24 hours, with -63 degrees Fahrenheit being the coldest value reported.
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, February 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: 1011884, 1011885.