Strong west winds developed behind a cold front that moved across the Arctic Coast. These strong winds resulted in blizzard conditions developing across the Eastern Beaufort Sea coast.
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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 west winds developed behind a cold front that moved across the Arctic Coast. These strong winds resulted in blizzard conditions developing across the Eastern Beaufort 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 Nov 29, 2:15 PM AKST, 7 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Fairbanks AK
215 PM AKST Fri Nov 29 2024
.SYNOPSIS...
Generally quiet weather for the entire forecast period across
northern Alaska. The primary near-term hazard is cold temperatures,
but the coldest stretch of weather has already occurred across the
interior. An approaching upper low brings increasing clouds and
light accumulating snow to the North Slope this evening before
spreading across the eastern interior on Saturday. Cloud cover and
snowfall allows for warming temps across interior Alaska, but
northerly flow west of the upper low brings clear skies and cooling
temperatures to the West Coast this weekend. An E/NEerly low level
jet -possibly approaching 60 kts @ 850 mb- develops Saturday into
Sat night as the upper low tracks southwest toward the Eastern
Bering Sea. Valley bottoms should remain stable with light winds,
but ridges and interior summits should experience blustery
conditions with gusts in the 30-40 mph range expected. EFI
guidance highlights this well and even though the strongest winds
are expected Saturday night through Sunday, blustery east winds
continue but gradually diminish through Tuesday night. By late on
Tuesday a frontal system will be pivoting northward across
southern Alaska. This front brings the next round of light snow
chances for the middle to end of next week.
KEY MESSAGES...
CENTRAL AND INTERIOR...
- Clouds and light snow chances spread across the east-central
interior tonight into Saturday that also moderates temperatures.
Accumulations will be light, generally less than an inch.
- Southeast winds increase to 10 to 15 mph and become gusty near
Eagle this evening through tonight. Wind chill values of 40 to 50
below are expected. A Special Weather Statement is in effect.
- Northeast winds increase Saturday night into Sunday for interior
summits, especially along the Dalton, Elliott, and Steese Highways.
Expect gusts up to 40 mph. These winds will cause areas of blowing
and drifting snow, reducing visibility below a mile at times. Will
have to monitor for potential Winter Weather Advisory.
- Temperatures warm above normal by mid to late next week.
WEST COAST AND WESTERN INTERIOR...
- Northeast winds increase Saturday night into Sunday for the entire
west coast, but especially south of the Bering Strait. Across the
southwest Yukon River Valley gusts as high as 30 mph are expected,
while portions of the Norton Sound coast could see gusts into the 40
mph range.
-Temperatures cool over the weekend with below zero lows for most of
the Kotzebue Sound Coastline and portions of the Norton Sound coast.
Saturday and Sunday nights appear coldest followed by a gradual
warming trend next week.
NORTH SLOPE AND BROOKS RANGE...
- A cold front is in the vicinity of Nuiqsut as of 1 PM and pushes
east/southeast overnight bringing light snow accumulation of around
an inch across the eastern Brooks Range and North Slope.
- West winds increase to around 30 mph behind the cold front
resulting in areas of blowing snow tonight into Saturday, mainly
east of Deadhorse. A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect.
- Northerly gap winds gusting to 35 mph develop in the central and
eastern Brooks Range passes tonight. Areas of blowing and drifting
snow will reduce visibility along the Dalton Highway at Atigun Pass.
A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect.
.DISCUSSION...
Models are in good agreement that the primary weather-maker is a 500
mb shortwave driving a cold front eastward across the North Slope
today. Post-frontal winds amplified by a barrier jet around Kaktovik
is expected to result in blowing snow tonight. This shortwave then
digs southeast across interior Alaska tonight while closing off
across the central interior by Saturday morning. The closed low
deepens while tracking southwest toward the eastern Bering Sea by
midday Sunday. This low brings some light snow to the eastern North
Slope, Brooks Range, and east-central interior through Saturday
evening, but amounts generally stay below 1 inch. As the low deepens
Saturday night, a potent 50+ kt east/northeasterly low level jet
develops across the interior with an embedded Tanana Valley jet that
may also exceed 50 kts at 850 mb. Model soundings are quite stable
so most northern valley locations should stay sheltered, but
increasing winds are expected to result in blowing snow for the
interior summits. The primary exception is the Tanana Valley where
easterly winds are funneled around the Alaska Range. This LLJ
gradually diminishes Sunday night and Monday, but a system lifting
into the Gulf of Alaska Monday night into Tuesday may give a
secondary boost to winds before they finally diminish on
Wednesday.
Extended Forecast Days 4-7...The extended forecast begins with an
upper level ridge centered over Chukotka and an upper level low
tracking southwest toward the central Aleutians Monday night. Weak
flow prevails across the interior for the early to middle part of
next week. A 500 mb col or saddle point gives way to upper level
ridging building across the interior on Friday. Southerly gap winds
are possible for the middle to end of next week as ridging and
southerly flow spreads across the Alaska Range. Southerly Chinook
flow allows for moderating temperatures over the Interior with
models disagreeing on how much warming occurs by late next week.
ECMWF is warmest, GFS is coolest, and CMC is in the middle.
Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None.
&&
.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AK...Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ832.
Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ805-809.
PK...Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ802.
Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ803.
Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ804-805-852-861.
Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ814-860.
Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ815.
Small Craft Advisory for PKZ816.
Small Craft Advisory for PKZ817.
Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ817.
Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ850-856.
Small Craft Advisory for PKZ850.
Small Craft Advisory for PKZ851.
Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ853-854.
Small Craft Advisory for PKZ853.
Small Craft Advisory for PKZ854.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds increased during the late evening hours of November 29th, with gusts reaching to 41 mph. This resulted in blizzard conditions at Point Thompson (PAAD), where visibility dropped below a quarter of a mile.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, November 2024
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: 1222936.