Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Alaska, January 28 to 31, 2025

Name: Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Alaska, January 28 to 31, 2025
Start: 2025-01-28T14:50
End: 2025-01-31T04:40
Location: Alaska

January 28 to 31, 2025 · NWS AJK · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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.

Low pressure set up off the coast of Yakutat causing bands of snow showers to train over the region. This made for a long duration event with some locations seeing equally long breaks between the snow showers. Warning level rates were observed during the bands of snow and observers added them together.

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 Jan 28, 5:39 AM AKST, 9 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 28, 5:39 AM AKST, 9 hours 11 minutes before

Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Juneau AK
539 AM AKST Tue Jan 28 2025

.SHORT TERM.../Through Tonight/...As the front has been moving
out, showers have become more scattered in nature during the
evening and through the overnight hours. The next low moves into
the southern Panhandle from the SW today, with the low moving
overhead later this evening. This system brings in some moderate
to heavy rainfall for the southern zones while central and
northern locations shift to northerly flow, bringing in a colder
airmass with any precipitation falling as a rain/snow mix or all
snow. But, with the low to the south, most precipitation will
generally be for points from Frederick Sound, southward. Snow
accumulations of between 1 and 4 inches for sea level locations
with the exception of Hyder where totals upwards of around 13
inches over 24 hours are likely. Overland winds have been
dropping-off from yesterday evening through the overnight hours
with the current front moving out of the area. As the stronger
winds for the far northern Panhandle continue to subside, it will
be the south's turn for breezy conditions as the SE Gulf low moves
in for later today through tonight.

.LONG TERM...Several incoming systems through mid to late week,
followed by clear skies and very cold temperatures.

Wednesday will see a brief lull in precipitation with the Tuesday
system moving into Canada. A broad ridge looks to set up over the
entirety of Alaska, bringing in colder temperatures aloft.
Northwesterly flow near Prince William Sound looks to interact
with with the remaining warm temperatures near the surface to spin
up a weak surface low around the Yakutat area. With 850 mb
temperatures dropping to below -10 C, with southerly moisture
transport of around 15-20 knots, it will be sufficient for banded
snow set up around the Icy Strait Corridor area. With the cold air
advection aloft, there looks to be ideal snow growth in the
dendritic growth zone, it is just a question of how much available
moisture is present. Current 25th-75th percentiles for QPF around
the Icy Strait Corridor hovers around 0.04-0.13 inches per 3 hours,
with high snow ratios of around 15:1 would translate into around
5-8 inches of snow over 12 hours. Given the potential, a winter
storm watch was issued for Pelican to Juneau.

Beyond, stronger cold air advection will push the weak low south,
sapping any remaining moisture with very dry air. 850 mb
temperatures near White Pass look to drop below -25 C with a high
pressure in the Yukon exceeding 1050 mb. Gales to severe gales are
expected for Lynn Canal, parts of Glacier Bay, Taku Inlet, and
possibly parts of Yakutat Bay in the upper arms. Temperatures
look to descend to below zero for the northern half of the
panhandle during the overnight hours of Saturday and Sunday.

&&

.AVIATION.../Until 12Z Wednesday/...Two separate weather regimes
through the day, with the day starting out with VFR/MVFR
conditions for the N panhandle and MVFR to IFR conditions for the
S. TAF sites will be in flux across the southern panhandle through
day, with highly variable ceilings and visibility as a wave of
moisture moves through the area. Chances of precip will diminish
across the N half of the area through the day, with only some
residual snow/rain showers left by late Tuesday/Tuesday night for
areas N of Angoon. More waves moving through the area Wednesday
and Thursday will result in sharply diminished visibilities and
ceilings at times, especially N of Prince of Wales Island, where
precip will at times fall as snow.

&&

.MARINE...The pressure gradient has relaxed overnight, and
therefore, winds have diminished for the northeastern Gulf and
Inner Channel waters as the previous front has been pushing out
and away from the region. As the next low moves into the SE Gulf
early today, winds increase again to the 25 - 30 kt range,
primarily for the SE Gulf and southern Inner Channel areas. With
the low over the south, the pressure gradient shifts and the previous
southerly flow switches to northerly flow for the northern 2/3 of
the Panhandle by early this evening.

&&

.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...Winter Storm Watch from Wednesday evening through Thursday
     afternoon for AKZ320>322-325.
     Winter Storm Warning from 9 AM this morning to 9 AM AKST
     Wednesday for AKZ331.
MARINE...Small Craft Advisory for PKZ036-053-641>644-651-652-661>664-671-
     672.

&&

SHORT TERM...JLC/PRB
LONG TERM....NC
AVIATION...GFS
MARINE...JLC/PRB

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

5 heavy snow, 2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, City and Borough of Yakutat

When: January 28, 2:50 PM AKST to January 30, 3:50 AM AKST
Where: City and Borough of Yakutat forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 59.667, -139.133 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

NWS employee in Yakutat measured 8.4 inches of snow the morning of the 29th for a daily CoCoRaHS report, but noted that most of that had fallen by late evening on the 28th. More rounds of heavy snow fell on the 29th with an additional 7.8 inches measured by the following morning.

Winter Storm, Haines Borough and Klukwan

When: January 29, 7:33 AM AKST to January 30, 8:54 PM AKST
Where: Haines Borough and Klukwan forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 59.251, -135.501 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two bands of snow moved through on the 29th and DOT in Haines estimated 8 to 12 inches of snow had fallen by early morning on the 30th. Other observers in town confirmed these amounts in the 8am hour, however the Customs station 40 miles to the NW only measured 3.5 inches. One spotter in town noted that around 10 inches of the 12 inches that he measured had fallen with the second band overnight. Periods of light snow continued through the morning on the 30th, then strong W-NW winds increased with gusts of 30-40 mph and blowing snow causing visibility down to 1 mile into the evening. The snowfall through this later period did not accumulate as much.

Heavy Snow, Eastern Chichagof Island

When: January 29, 11:00 PM AKST to January 30, 6:00 PM 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 3.6 inches of snow at 730am on the 30th. The airport AWOS was not reporting during this time, making start and end times estimated, but surrounding areas reported snowfall rates increase after the morning COOP report and ended in the evening. Therefore the COOP measurement of 9.1 inches at 8am on the 31st fell in approximately 12 hours.

Heavy Snow, Cape Fairweather to Lisianski Strait

When: January 29, 11:00 PM AKST to January 30, 6:00 PM AKST
Where: Cape Fairweather to Lisianski Strait forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 57.948, -134.941 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Pelican COOP measured 5.3 inches of snow at their morning measurement on the 30th, with snowfall rates likely picking up after. Start and end times are estimated based on surrounding areas and snow ending in the evening. Therefore, with the COOP measurement of 2.7 inches the following morning, 8 inches of snow fell in approximately 19 hours. Overall totals were greater than this due to snow that had occurred the day before.

Heavy Snow, City and Borough of Juneau

When: January 30, 1:15 AM AKST to 10:45 PM AKST
Where: City and Borough of Juneau forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 58.417, -134.333 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Public reports through the morning of the 30th showed heavy snow on Douglas Island that had accumulated to 6 inches overnight, some of that likely included lighter snow that had fallen during the day before. Heavy snow continued over this portion of the Juneau Borough through the 30th with a measurement of 15 inches at lower elevations of West Juneau by 304pm. The school district use the snow bus routes for Douglas and cancelled afternoon activities. Other parts of Juneau saw much less, totaling 5 to 9 inches of snow in the Valley and out the road between the 28th and 31st of January.

Heavy Snow, Prince of Wales Island

When: January 30, 3:07 AM AKST to January 31, 4:40 AM AKST
Where: Prince of Wales Island forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 55.597, -132.803 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snow began in the early morning hours of the 30th, with periods of heavy rates, resulting in a social media report of 6 inches by 1235pm in Craig on the west side of Prince of Wales Island. Another report from a traveler from Hollis had only 4 inches there on the east side of the island, but estimated nearly 16 inches over the Hollis to Klawock Highway at 152pm. Periods of heavy snow continued through the late hours before ending after just over 24 hours. The COOP in Klawock also noted significant snowfall during this event, with a depth of 18 inches by the end of it. Another social media report from Whale Pass on the NE side of the island estimated 12 inches of snow from this event.

Winter Storm, Petersburg Borough

When: January 30, 3:08 AM AKST to 9:00 PM AKST
Where: Petersburg Borough forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 56.765, -133.193 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Weather observer at the Petersburg Airport had 5 inches of snow by 1pm on the 30th and noted 2 inches from the day before. Periods of heavy snow continued through the evening of the 30th, but was swept away by the wind, making it difficult to measure.

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 2025 Every state in 2025 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, January 2025

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: 1257257, 1257259, 1257275, 1257277, 1257262, 1257269, 1257272.