A persistent, strong area of high pressure over the Arctic Ocean resulted in persistent blizzard conditions along the Chukchi Sea Coast.
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.
A persistent, strong area of high pressure over the Arctic Ocean resulted in persistent blizzard conditions along the Chukchi Sea Coast.
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 Mar 29, 3:18 AM AKST, 11 hours 6 minutes earlier.
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fairbanks AK 418 AM AKDT Tue Mar 29 2022 .SYNOPSIS... Blowing and drifting snow continues to be an issue early this morning across the North Slope, but will become localized to only along the Chukchi Sea Coast later on today. A front that moved into the Interior overnight has stalled out, and will continue to bring chances for light snow through this evening. Tonight through Wednesday, another front will drop across the eastern North Slope into the Interior, bringing a brief shot of snow and gusty winds with it. High pressure and mostly clear skies will move in behind this front for Thursday and Friday, along with gusty easterly winds across most of Northern Alaska. && .DISCUSSION... Upper Levels and Analysis... Aloft, at 500 mb, most of Northern Alaska is under troughing that has three embedded lows over Norton Sound, Kodiak Island, and the Gulf of AK. The upper low over Norton Sound brought a front into the Interior overnight, resulting in widespread cloud cover and a few areas of light snow. The North Slope continues to see gusty easterly winds with the combination of low pressure over the Interior, and a strong surface and upper level high in the high Arctic. Tonight into Wednesday, the high will begin to drop down over the North Slope and nose into the Interior, with a shortwave and associated front riding along the eastern side of it. By Thursday morning, most of Northern Alaska will be seeing clear skies under the upper level ridge, but the strong surface high pressure pushing into the eastern Interior will result in a tight gradient and gusty easterly winds across most of Northern Alaska that will last into Friday. Model Discussion... The 29/00Z and 29/06Z suites generally initialized well when compared to observational data, but were a bit too weak with winds on the North Slope. So, the only changes to the inherited forecast were bumping up the winds in those areas. Central and Eastern Interior... Most of the area is seeing cloudy skies this morning as a front pushed in from the south overnight, bringing light snow to areas north and east of Fairbanks. Conditions will not change much through this evening as the front remains stalled over the area. Tonight, another front will begin to drop in from the north, bringing chances for snow across most of the area through Wednesday afternoon. In total, less than one inch of snow is expected. Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, skies will gradually become mostly clear in the wake of the frontal passage, and temperatures will cool a little bit. With high pressure building in to the east, winds will become gusty over the summits, which last through Thursday, and could lead to some blowing and drifting snow. North Slope and Brooks Range... We continue to see gusty winds with blowing and drifting snow and slightly reduced visibility across most of the North Slope this morning. Throughout today, the winds will begin to weaken a bit along the Beaufort Sea Coast, but they will strengthen along the Chukchi Sea Coast, resulting in areas of blowing snow through Wednesday night. The strongest winds are expected near Point Lay, which could see gusts to 40 mph, and a Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for this area. We will continue to monitor this area in case the visibility is worse than expected. The gusty wind issues look to continue through the end of the week across the North Slope. Aside from that, skies will be partly cloudy with temperatures right around normal. West Coast and Western Interior... Partly to mostly cloudy skies are being seen across the area this morning, with some areas of light snow. The gusty north-northeast winds continue in the coastal areas, and will remain that way through tonight. A low pressure system will move into the southern Bering Sea tonight through Wednesday, and will bring chances for snow to coastal areas from the Seward Peninsula south. This system will also lead to winds increasing across the area, and switching to out of the east, which will last into Thursday. Gusts to 35 mph are possible across all coastal areas during this time, with localized blowing and drifting snow expected. Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None. Extended Forecast for Days 4 to 7... Models are in fair agreement for the extended forecast, with the ridge over Northern Alaska on Friday gradually being pushed out over the weekend and replaced with upper level troughing. There are some details to be hashed out with the exact timing of a few systems, but in general we can expect Northern Alaska to see around to slightly below normal temperatures, locally gusty winds, and chances for light snow. && .AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ201. Gale Warning for PKZ225-PKZ230. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ210-PKZ220-PKZ235-PKZ240-PKZ245. && MAR 22
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
A persistent ground blizzard occurred at Pont Lay. Pont Lay reported consistent sustained winds in excess of 35 mph with visibility as low as a quarter mile for the better part of three days. Gusts as high as 50 mph were reported during the event.
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, March 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: 1017044.