An Arctic low passed through Southcentral from the north from January 28th to January 30th. Snow chances and wind speeds increased as a result, particularly in the Copper River Basin from Paxson to Isabel Pass and Prince William Sound including Thompson Pass.
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 AFC wrote it up.
An Arctic low passed through Southcentral from the north from January 28th to January 30th. Snow chances and wind speeds increased as a result, particularly in the Copper River Basin from Paxson to Isabel Pass and Prince William Sound including Thompson Pass. Broad Pass had lower chances for snowfall, but a previous snow event meant that easily transportable snowfall was present in the pass. All three passes ended up in blizzard conditions between the 29th and 30th of January, creating very difficult driving conditions from blowing snow and drifting snow.
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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 28, 5:50 AM AKST, 7 hours 34 minutes earlier.
Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Anchorage AK 550 AM AKST Tue Jan 28 2025 .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3/Today through Thursday Night)... The longwave upper-level trough sits anchored over the western half of the state this morning. Multiple shortwaves and vorticity maxima continue to rotate around this trough, moving from southwest to northeast over Southcentral from the AKPen and Western Gulf. Two such waves can be seen on satellite this morning. The first is driving toward the Copper River Delta, bringing snow to the central and eastern Chugach Mountains as well as to Valdez and Cordova. The second is a weaker feature moving up northern Cook Inlet. This feature is spinning up a meso-low at the surface, lifting over the Talkeetna Mountains and bringing snow to the mountains and along the Glenn Highway northeast of Palmer and Sutton. As the aforementioned features lift north, another wave will slide east from Bristol Bay to Cook Inlet. This feature will help to usher in another wave of arctic air and allow for additional snow shower activity from Kenai north to the Mat-Su Valleys later today. One challenge with this feature is that yet another wave will drop in from the northwest tonight as the entire upper-level low moves toward Southcentral. Models are hinting at the development of a second meso-low over Cook Inlet, dropping south from Anchorage to Homer overnight. If this comes to fruition, locations along the western Kenai Peninsula could see a brief bout of snow and blowing snow before the system moves over the Barren Islands. As each of these features rotates and lifts northeast, periods of light snow will be possible over the Copper River Basin. Accumulations are expected to be light; however, any snow could linger into Wednesday. As the wave potentially spinning up the Cook Inlet meso-low moves into the Gulf for Wednesday, the westerly flow aloft and strong cold air advection will allow for a rapid increase in gap winds, especially for places like Seward and Whittier. The upper-level flow then becomes a bit more northerly by late Wednesday and into Thursday as the upper-level low moves over the Talkeetnas and eventually into the northeasterly Gulf. Gap winds will increase for Broad Pass and Isabel Pass by late Wednesday morning with strong winds developing for Thompson Pass and Valdez for Wednesday afternoon. Considering that these passes all received quite a bit of snow from our big storm event last weekend, it is likely that blowing snow will be a concern as the winds resuspend snow that has already fallen. Visibilities north of Paxson and in Thompson Pass could even drop to a quarter mile of less at times in strong winds. In addition to strong winds through gaps and passes, expect strong winds across the coastal water along with falling temperatures. The result will be the development of widespread freezing spray beginning Tuesday night and Wednesday. Heavy freezing spray is likely along the Alaska Peninsula from southern Cook Inlet through Shelikof Strait. Finally, temperature will continue to fall through Thursday, with almost every locations below zero by Thursday morning. For areas still dealing with winds, winds chills could fall to 25 to 40 below zero for interior locations and mountain passes. && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days 1 through 3)... Key Messages: - A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect for the Kuskokwim Delta beginning tonight and continuing through Thursday morning for wind chills as low as 40 to 50 below zero. - Periods of strong winds and blowing snow are expected through this evening for the Eastern Aleutians and Southern Alaska Peninsula. Gusty northwesterly winds combined with snow showers could significantly reduce visibilities. Satellite this morning shows much of the southwest mainland Alaska sky clearing out. Areas of upslope-driven low stratus and light snow showers remain for areas on the windward side of the Kuskokwim and Alaska Range Mountains as westerly to southwesterly upper level flow continues to establish the very cold airmass over Southwest Alaska. Elsewhere, gusty winds and snow showers associated with a compact low that traversed over the Pribilof Islands overnight continues to move southward towards the Eastern Aleutians and Southern Alaska Peninsula. Gale-force winds with gusts up to 50 mph along with snow showers are expected to continue through this evening for the Eastern Aleutians and Southern AKPen. Conditions will improve from west to east throughout the day as the low continues southeastward into the North Pacific. Temperatures this morning continue to plummet across Southwest Alaska with many areas already in the minus teens. Beginning tonight, the Kuskokwim Delta and Lower Kuskokwim Valley will see temperatures fall to near -20F with windchills reaching -40F. Daytime temperatures for Wednesday for these areas will remain well below zero, before further falling to -20F to -30F with wind chills between -40F to -50F Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Bristol Bay will be "warmer" with low temperatures reaching the minus teens Tuesday night/Wednesday night. The Alaska Peninsula will be the "warmest" with temperatures from -4F to 18F between Pilot Point and False Pass respectively. Daytime temperatures will be subzero for all areas except from Pilot Point south on Wednesday. The next weather driver will be an incoming front set to move over the Western Aleutians this morning. A band of gale force winds surrounded by widespread small craft will move west to east across the Bering Sea through the end of the week. Precipitation will move along the front, starting as snow initially and transitioning to rain as warm air encroaches in. The Western/Central Aleutians will likely see very little, if any, snowfall due to already having temperatures at or above freezing prior to precipitation. The front reaches the Pribilof Islands by tomorrow morning, bringing rounds of snowfall and gale force winds. There is potential for blowing snow conditions as the arrival of the front precedes the warmer air by several hours before transitioning to a rain/snow mix and then rain. Similar conditions are expected along the Kuskokwim Delta Coast by Thursday. -JH/KM && .LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7: Friday - Monday)... Seasonably cool temperatures continue over much of the southeastern half of the State as the longwave trough over the Bering Sea retreats back towards the Arctic and the building high pressure ridge shifts towards the East. Several shortwave troughs with associated surface lows will move through the Gulf of Alaska through the end of the week producing moderate coastal rain and mountain snow to Prince William Sound and into the Copper River Basin. Cooler air across the Interior to the Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island, Anchorage and Mat- Su Valleys will start to warm as more southerly winds return to the area early next week. Precipitation during this time is favor a rain/snow mix later transitioning to more rain at the lower elevations at the start of the new week. A building pressure gradient will produce strong southerly winds across the Central Aleutians through the Western Alaskan Peninsula and Southern Bering Sea through the end of the forecast period. -DD && .AVIATION... PANC...VFR conditions should persist through the TAF period. There is a chance a some flurries or very light snow showers this afternoon into the evening as a weak upper disturbance lifts over the area. A lower cloud deck could form as a result of snow shower activity, but VFR should be maintained. Gusty south-southwesterly up-inlet winds will begin to diminish by late this morning or early afternoon and turn northerly by this evening. A few gusts between 15 to 20 kts are possible Wednesday as a reinforcing shot of cold air works in by then. &&
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
825 AM AKST Tue Jan 28 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0521 PM Snow Sutton 61.71N 148.87W
01/27/2025 M6.5 Inch Matanuska-Susitna AK Public
Storm total snow for this day. Lightly
snowing, but no significant accumulations.
24F and calm.
&&
JARPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
929 AM AKST Tue Jan 28 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0916 AM Snow 6 SE Valdez 61.11N 146.22W
01/28/2025 M2.5 Inch Chugach AK CO-OP Observer
0.27 SWE.
&&3 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
An employee of the Alaska Department of Transportation called the National Weather Service, reporting sustained quarter mile visibility and blizzard conditions in Thompson Pass. Additionally, the 511 site of the Department of Transportation reported Very Difficult driving conditions for Thompson Pass.
The Alaska Department of Transportation 511 site reported Very Difficult driving conditions near Paxson and along Isabel Pass due to reduced visibility, strong winds, blowing snow, and drifting snow at 3:00 AM AKST January 29th. Isabel Pass was closed by the Department of Transportation on January 29th.
The Cantwell Department of Transportation camp reported quarter mile visibility, high winds, drifting snow, and blizzard conditions on January 29th. The Alaska Department of Transportation site reported Very Difficult driving conditions for Broad Pass on January 29th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, January 2025
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: 1234609, 1234664, 1234665.