A weather systems brought strong winds with periods of blizzard conditions as well as snow and freezing rain March 4th-8th 2023. An area of low pressure moving north through the Bering Sea along with an associated warm front, combined with strong high pressure over Interior Alaska initially brought blizzard conditions to the west 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 weather systems brought strong winds with periods of blizzard conditions as well as snow and freezing rain March 4th-8th 2023. An area of low pressure moving north through the Bering Sea along with an associated warm front, combined with strong high pressure over Interior Alaska initially brought blizzard conditions to the west coast. As temperatures warmed, snow eventually transitioned over to freezing rain in some locations, with strong winds persisting.
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 3, 3:05 PM AKST, 8 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Fairbanks AK
305 PM AKST Fri Mar 3 2023
.SYNOPSIS...
A mix of clouds and clearing through the Interior this afternoon.
Clear and cold conditions expected through much of northern
Alaska tonight as Arctic air filters in from the North Slope.
Along the West Coast, focus will be on several waves of storms
beginning tonight. The first storm will spread snow and strong
winds from the Yukon Delta north through the Bering Strait
Saturday. Another strong storm will arrive from the south Saturday
into Sunday, further deteriorating conditions along the coast
with wind, snow and a mix of precipitation through at least the
Yukon Delta. The North Slope and Interior should remain dry.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
At the surface a 1025mb high is centered over the Beaufort Sea. This
will extend southward over the Interior into the weekend. At the
same time a 987mb low is moving through the central Bering Sea this
evening, approaching St. Lawrence Island Saturday. Between the
Interior surface high and low pressure over the Bering Sea the
surface pressure gradient will tighten through the north Bering Sea.
This will increase moist southerly flow through the Aleutians and
along the West Coast.
Aloft, broad high pressure over the Interior will get a boost from
the ridge building through the Alaskan Peninsula and into the
Interior this weekend. The highly amplified trough-ridge pattern
from the Bering Sea through the Interior will only deepen further
through the weekend. The deep-column southerly moisture stream will
further feed the active weather along the West Coast.
North Slope and Brooks Range...
A cold arctic airmass situated over the North Slope will keep
conditions dry and relatively calm through the night. Winds will
begin to increase from fro west to east Saturday morning through
the day. Strong downsloping southerly flow across the western
Brooks Range will warm temperatures along the Arctic Coast near
Point Lay. As the south winds increase and the temperatures creep
up from west to east along the North Slope, there will likely be
dangerously cold wind chills for a window of time before
temperatures really increase into Sunday. Wind Chill Advisories or
Warnings may be necessary early Saturday through early Sunday.
West Coast and Western Interior...
Very active weather will begin tonight along the West Coast of
Alaska as a storm arrives out of the Bering Sea. This storm will
bring heavy snow, wind and warming temperatures beginning in the
Yukon Delta and St. Lawrence Island tonight spreading northward
overnight into Saturday morning. Strong southerly winds will favor
south-facing coastlines to receive the bulk of the heavy
precipitation and even some coastal icing impacts. Locations in
and around Nome, Wales, Kivalina, and Point Hope will see the
worst of the impacts with blizzard conditions, drifting snow and
potential coastal sea ice shoves early Saturday through Sunday
night. Blizzard Warnings have been expanded to include these
locations. Further south along the lower Yukon Delta temperatures
will warm enough to lead to a switchover from snow to rain which
would lead to icing and compound impacts in locations in and
around Hooper Bay and Chevak. There is potential that the
rain/snow line could advance north to Unalakleet and even into the
southern Seward Peninsula. Confidence in this icing potential is
low.
Central and Eastern Interior...
Lingering stratus and light flurries will continue across the
Eastern Interior north of the Alaska Range. Elsewhere, seeing some
clearing through the Central Interior where temperatures could
really drop tonight and again on Saturday night. Despite the
storminess expected along the West Coast, the Interior should
largely remain dry with a warming trend as southerly flow filters
in warmer temperatures toward the latter part of the weekend. By
Monday, high temperatures will range from the mid 30s in around
the Alaska Range to mid 20s in the Tanana Valley and single digits
above through the Yukon Flats.
Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...A series of storms moving
north over Bering Sea this weekend could cause water to move up
on top of the ice along the West Coast of Alaska this weekend and
early next week.
Extended Forecast for Days 4 to 7... Further amplification of the
upper level pattern will keep the West Coast warmer than average.
Rounds of moisture streaming northward through the mean flow will
fuel precipitation on and off until the ridge can become dislodged
later next week. Confidence on when that occurs is quite low with
model guidance diverging significantly.
&&
.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AK...Blizzard Warning for AKZ211-213.
Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ212.
Winter Storm Warning for AKZ214.
Blizzard Warning for AKZ207-209.
Winter Storm Warning for AKZ210.
PK...Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ200.
Gale Warning for PKZ201.
Gale Warning for PKZ210.
Gale Warning for PKZ215-225.
Gale Warning for PKZ220.
Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ230.
Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ235.
&&6 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard Conditions developed in the late evening of the 3rd along the coast of the Yukon Delta, with poor visibility persisting through the morning of the 4th. Winds at Cape Romanzof peaked at 77 mph. The winds gusted as high as 47 mph at Scammon Bay, 46 mph at Chevak, 45 mph at Marshall, and 41 mph at St Mary's.
Blizzard conditions developed in the early morning hours of the 4th on both St. Lawrence Island and the coast of the Bering Strait and continued through midday on the 5th. Winds at Savoonga gusted as high as 71 mph. Other peak wind gusts include: 69 mph at Tin City, 67 mph at Teller, 54 mph at Gambell and 41 mph at Brevig Mission.
Blizzard conditions developed along the southern coast of the Seward Peninsula on the on the morning of the 4th, first at Nome and then at Golovin. The visibility improved in Nome by the evening of the 4th; however, in Golovin periods of blizzard conditions continued into the afternoon of the 5th. Winds during the event peaked at 43 mph in Golovin and 41 mph in Nome.
Blizzard conditions developed on on the Baldwin Peninsula on the morning of the 4th and continued through the morning of the 6th. Winds gusted as high as 52 mph during the event. The strong winds caused a citywide power outage in Kotzebue, which subsequently caused the city's water system to fail. Significant drifting caused made travel in Kotzebue difficult for several days after the event.
Blizzard conditions developed at Buckland on the morning of the 4th and continued through the morning of the 5th. Winds at Buckland gusted as high as 49 mph during the event.
Blizzard conditions developed along the Chukchi Sea coast the morning of the 4th. Blizzard conditions continued to be reported by the Point Hope AWOS through the afternoon of the 5th. The Point Hope AWOS stopped reporting the visibility during the afternoon of the 5th; however, webcam continued to show areas of blizzard conditions persisting through the evening of the 6th. Winds gusted as high as 75 mph at Red Dog Dock and 61 mph at Point Hope during the event.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 2023
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: 1090809, 1090803, 1090806, 1090815, 1090805, 1090813.