Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Alaska, February 24 to 25, 2023

Name: Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Alaska, February 24 to 25, 2023
Start: 2023-02-24T00:00
End: 2023-02-25T14:55
Location: Alaska

February 24 to 25, 2023 · NWS AJK · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

Low pressure lingered over the NE gulf with an associated front causing very light, dry snow to fall for over 12 hours. A wave formed along the front causing rates to pick up to warning level rates for another 12 or more hours, particularly on the northeast side of the low as it started tracking SE along the outer coast late on the 24th and into the 25th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS AJK wrote it up.

What forecasters said that day

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 Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 23, 3:00 PM AKST, 9 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 23, 3:00 PM AKST, 9 hours before

Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Juneau AK
300 PM AKST Thu Feb 23 2023

.SHORT TERM.../Thursday night through Saturday/...Another round of
wintry weather is headed towards SE AK. We are already seeing snow
in Yakutat that began during the late morning hours. The snow will
largely fall in two separate waves.

The first round will come from a strengthening low that is moving
into the NE gulf this evening that will push an associated front
over the panhandle Friday. This is expected to a dry snow that
will spread from north to south across the panhandle.

A brief lull may be possible Friday morning for some locations
before a much stronger wave moves into the panhandle from the
south, bringing with it substantially more snow.

Some uncertainty exists regarding snow totals due to limited
moisture available, particularly for parts of the northern and
central inner channels. Also, snow ratios were a challenge. Models
are wanting to give 25 to 30:1 ratios. Decided to lower these to
more realistic 15 to 20:1 ratios. Either way, for most areas the
greatest snowfall rates will be Friday evening through early
Saturday morning.

Winter Weather Warnings and Advisories have been issued for the
impactful winter weather on the way.

Wind speeds will elevate briefly as the front passes through the
panhandle. Land areas could see winds gusts to 30-35 mph and the
marine zones could see wind speeds around 20-30 knots.

.LONG TERM.../Sunday through Wednesday/ As the storm exits the
region to the south, we go enter back into a cold and dry pattern
across SE AK with another outflow pattern setting up.
Some deterministic and ensemble forecasts show good confidence in
the low exiting the area diving south while high pressure builds
over the Yukon. This pattern will begin to develop starting late
Sunday and into Monday moving north to south with the decreasing
precipitation. This pattern will be short lived though as another
storm looks to be moving in fairly quickly allowing for more
active weather to continue. This next system currently looks to
move into the area starting late Monday and early Tuesday
morning. In coordination with WPC, expect to see heavy
precipitation with this next storm to impact the area. Ensemble
members continue to show good agreement for this forecast going
into next week. There is a decent potential for this to be a
significant snow event with the cold air from the prior outflow
event still in place. Moving into the middle of the week, warmer
air starts to make its way back into the area but depending on how
far it is able to spread through the Inner channels remains a big
question at the moment.

&&

.AVIATION...Conditions will steadily worsen through the evening
and overnight hours on Friday as snow advances into the panhandle.
Some minor improvements in ceiling sand visibilities may be
possible through Friday morning for some locations as a brief lull
in the precipitation takes place for some areas. Conditions will
substantially deteriorate through Friday afternoon and evening,
and LLWS will begin to enter some parts of the panhandle during
this time frame.

&&

.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...Winter Storm Warning until 6 AM AKST Saturday for AKZ317.
     Winter Weather Advisory from 9 PM this evening to 9 AM AKST
     Saturday for AKZ318-319-321-322.
     Winter Storm Warning from midnight tonight to 9 AM AKST Saturday
     for AKZ320-325.
     Winter Weather Advisory from midnight tonight to 9 AM AKST
     Saturday for AKZ323-324-327.
     Strong Wind until 3 PM AKST this afternoon for AKZ325.
     Winter Storm Warning from 9 AM Friday to 9 AM AKST Saturday for
     AKZ326-328>330-332.
     Winter Storm Warning from 3 PM Friday to 3 PM AKST Saturday for
     AKZ331.
MARINE...Gale Warning for PKZ043-051.
     Small Craft Advisory for PKZ022-031>036-041-042-052-053.

&&

SHORT TERM...GJS
LONG TERM....SF
AVIATION...GFS

Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/Juneau

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 heavy snow, 3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, City and Borough of Juneau

When: February 24, 12:00 AM AKST to February 25, 8:15 AM AKST
Where: City and Borough of Juneau forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 58.417, -134.333 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The climate station at the Juneau Airport measured a record breaking snowfall of 14.3 inches on the 24th and a storm total of 20.6 inches through the next morning. Numerous other spotter reports came in from around Juneau with storm totals ranging from 6 to 12 inches.

Heavy Snow, Cape Fairweather to Lisianski Strait

When: February 24, 2:00 AM AKST to February 25, 4:00 AM AKST
Where: Cape Fairweather to Lisianski Strait forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 57.948, -134.941 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP observer in Pelican measured 1.9 inches by 8am on the 24th, then another 9.6 inches the next morning for a storm total of 11.5 in approximately 26hrs. Another spotter in Pelican measured 6 inches of snow by 530pm on the 24th and 8 more inches by the following morning, for a storm total of 14 inches.

Heavy Snow, Petersburg Borough

When: February 24, 2:00 AM AKST to February 25, 1:20 PM AKST
Where: Petersburg Borough forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 56.765, -133.193 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP station at the Petersburg Airport measured 6 inches of snow had fallen by 9pm on the 24th and another 8 inches by 830am on the 25th with snow continuing to fall. Another trained spotter in the area had around 12 inches storm total.

Heavy Snow, Western Kupreanof Island and Kuiu Island

When: February 24, 2:00 AM AKST to February 25, 9:55 AM AKST
Where: Western Kupreanof Island and Kuiu Island forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 55.597, -132.803 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Trained spotter in Security Bay, SW of Kake, measured 10 inches of snow by 1107pm on the 24th. Another spotter in Port Alexander noted a storm total of 16.5 inches the following day.

Heavy Snow, Eastern Chichagof Island

When: February 24, 3:00 AM AKST to February 25, 7:00 AM AKST
Where: Eastern Chichagof Island forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 57.948, -134.941 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hoonah COOP measured a storm total of 9.1 inches with most of that falling in the latter 12 hours of the long duration event. Snow was dry and blowing around, which may have reduced the overall total.

Heavy Snow, Glacier Bay

When: February 24, 3:30 AM AKST to February 25, 4:00 AM AKST
Where: Glacier Bay forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 57.948, -134.941 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Gustavus DOT foreman reported 6 inches of dry snow by 6:45PM on the 24th and a final storm total of 7.5 inches early the following morning when in had cleared. The nearby COOP station measured a storm total of 8.2 inches.

Winter Storm, Annette Island

When: February 24, 5:00 AM AKST to February 25, 1:35 AM AKST
Where: Annette Island forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 55.597, -132.803 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

NWS Employee at WSO Annette reported that blowing and drifting snow made measurements difficult. Around the office there were measurements of 4.7 to 10 inches. Most of that snow fell in the last 12 hours of the event. Near sea level, less snow was measured and changed to rain toward the end of the event.

Heavy Snow, City and Borough of Wrangell

When: February 24, 5:00 AM AKST to February 25, 1:30 PM AKST
Where: City and Borough of Wrangell forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 56.413, -132.320 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Trained spotter near Wrangell measured a storm total of 8 inches. While light, dry, snow fell all day on the 24th, majority of the accumulation fell in the late evening with 5 inches measured at 10pm. Lower accumulations were measured near the airport.

Winter Storm, Prince of Wales Island

When: February 24, 6:00 AM AKST to February 25, 8:28 AM AKST
Where: Prince of Wales Island forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 55.597, -132.803 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Trained spotter in Craig noted that they had blizzard like conditions with snow drifts everywhere, making it hard to measure but estimated 6 inches by 917pm on the 24th. COOP station on the opposite side of the island in Thorne Bay measured 6.5 inches by 9am on the 25th and was still snowing lightly. Hydaburg seaplane base reported snow |with frequent sustained winds of around 20 mph with gusts of 30 mph between noon on the 24th and 1am on the 25th.

Heavy Snow, City of Hyder

When: February 24, 12:00 PM AKST to February 25, 11:00 AM AKST
Where: City of Hyder forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 55.597, -132.803 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP Observer in Hyder measured 11.7 inches of dry powdery snow at 330am Saturday the 25th and was still falling at a moderate rate at the time. COOP noted snow began around noon on Friday the 24th.

Winter Storm, City and Borough of Sitka

When: February 24, 1:05 PM AKST to February 25, 2:55 PM AKST
Where: City and Borough of Sitka forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 57.083, -135.269 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

At 1:20PM on the 25th, the Sitka Airport FAA Flight Service Station estimated 6 to 7 inches of storm total snow accumulation. Between 2pm and 11pm on the 24th, the Sitka ASOS measured frequent sustained winds of 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph and visibility between 0.25 and 1 mile.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2023 Every state in 2023 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 2023

Sources

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: 1080422, 1080061, 1080418, 1080420, 1080063, 1080423, 1080064, 1080417, 1080419, 1080065, 1080424.