Blizzard and Winter Storm in Alaska, February 10 to 15, 2026

Name: Blizzard and Winter Storm in Alaska, February 10 to 15, 2026
Start: 2026-02-10T06:15
End: 2026-02-15T09:00
Location: Alaska

February 10 to 15, 2026 · NWS AFG · 11 events in 10 counties and zones

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 AFG wrote it up.

The second week of February saw the first of 3 back to back major winter storms move across Alaska's West Coast and Interior. The week began with abnormally cold readings across the all of Northern and Central Alaska. By Monday a very strong storm system entered the Bering Sea and proceeded to move northeastward across the West Coast and the Interior of Alaska over the next several days. Initially the storm brought heavy snow and strong winds from the Bering Strait coastline down to the Yukon Delta region which resulted in blizzard conditions. As the storm moved deeper into the Interior the storm produced heavy snowfall and occasional snow squalls.

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 Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 10, 5:40 AM AKST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 10, 5:40 AM AKST, 35 minutes before

Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Fairbanks AK
540 AM AKST Tue Feb 10 2026

.SYNOPSIS...
A stout low pressure in the Bering Sea is moving slowly towards
the West Coast this morning. Winds across the West Coast are
already beginning to ramp up with widespread 30 to 50 mph wind
gusts across the Yukon Delta and Eastern Norton Sound Coastline.
Later this morning light to moderate snow will move onshore, and
will create areas of reduced visibilities due to blowing snow.
Arctic air remains entrenched north of the Brooks Range through
the middle of the week when a front pushes northwards. Dangerous
wind chills across the North Slope will continue until this
happens. Another system will move into the Bering later this week.
This system is much more unorganized, but is much wetter than the
ongoing system. Chances for moderate snowfall could extend into
the Eastern Interior by the end of the weekend.

&&

.KEY WEATHER MESSAGES...
Central and Eastern Interior...
- Very cold and mostly dry conditions will continue across the
  Interior this morning. Cloud cover and chances for snow will
  return by this evening. Temperatures are expected to warm
  drastically with the arrival of cloud cover.

- With the arrival of the warm front, snow chances and stronger
  winds will begin this afternoon. Strongest winds will be
  southerly through the Alaska Range Passes, easterly around Delta
  Junction, and easterly/northeasterly across the White Mountains
  and Dalton Highway Summits.

- Snowfall amounts Tuesday through Thursday across much of the
  Eastern Interior are expected to be around 1"-3" with up to
  3"-5" in Denali Park and south to Cantwell. A winter weather
  advisory has been issued for Isabell Pass, with upwards of 8" of
  snow expected.

West Coast and Western Interior...
- Strong easterly winds gusting up to 55 mph expected today ahead
  of the first front of snow approaching from the south this
  morning and through Wednesday. The strongest winds are expected
  along the coast from the Seward Peninsula south. Winds shift
  northerly Wednesday increasing through the Bering Strait and
  decreasing along the Eastern Norton Sound.

- A front extending from the storm brings a wave of new snow
  across the West Coast from the south to the north Tuesday
  through Thursday. 2"-7" of snow is expected with the highest
  amounts expected to the southwest and along south facing slopes
  along the Southern Seward Peninsula, Lower Yukon, and YK Delta
  regions. Relatively lighter amounts of 2"-4" are expected for
  most of the rest of the West Coast and Western Interior.

- Blizzard warnings have been issued for the Lower Yukon, Yukon
  Delta, Eastern Norton Sound Coast, Bering Strait Coast, Diomede,
  and St. Lawrence Island. Winter Weather Advisories have been
  issued for the Southern Seward Peninsula and Interior Seward
  Peninsula for gusty winds, moderate to heavy snowfall and
  periods of blowing snow.

North Slope and Brooks Range..
- Very cold and dry conditions will continue through midweek, as
  temperatures reach down to the 30s/40s below zero to around 50
  below zero from Toolik Lake to Umiat. Wind chills will be even
  colder, down to around 50-70 below zero. Extreme Cold Warnings
  remain in place through at least Wednesday.

- Winds will continue to remain light overall as more moderate
  winds remain confined to the Western Arctic Coast from Point Lay
  to Point Hope. Winds will see an increase regionwide Tuesday
  into Wednesday, with areas of blowing snow and localized
  blizzard conditions possible.

- Light snow chances will move into the western portions of the
  Brooks Range and North Slope Wednesday into Thursday. Total snow
  accumulations of up to an inch along the North Slope and 1 to 3
  inches in the Brooks Range.

&&

.FORECAST ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...
A 944 mb low west of St. Paul Island is continuing to slowly move
northeast. The low pressure is nearing maximum strength as it is
vertically stacked throughout the whole column. The winds across
the West Coast have already begun to strengthen with widespread 30
to 50 mph winds. A warm front associated with this system is
beginning to move onto shore. This will bring a round of light to
moderate snow across Northern Alaska this week. Along the West
Coast where we are expecting the strongest winds, we will see
periods of blizzard conditions. The storm will begin to weaken
Wednesday as colder and drier air wraps into the low center. This
paired with weakening upper-level dynamics will see the low
pressure weaken rapidly. As this front moves farther north
Wednesday it will encounter the dense arctic air that has
entrenched over the North Slope. The warm front will help to
alleviate the colder temperatures. As this front becomes
stationary with reinforcing warm air advection from the south, it
should help to keep the colder temperatures from returning through
the weekend.

&&

.EXTENDED FORECAST DAYS 4-7...
Another system will move into the Bering Sea Friday. This system
is anticipated to be weaker, but much wetter than the current
storm. While winds are expected to only to be 25 to 35 mph along
the coast, heavier snowfall could create periods of reduced
visibility. By Saturday, snow is anticipated to be in the Eastern
Interior. There is large model spread on the amount of snow, but
with weak west-southwest flow aloft we should see very little in
downsloping here in the Tanana Valley. Snow totals will be largely
dependent on how much moisture can successfully get far enough
into the Interior, as well as the convective nature of the snow.
With a weak frontal boundary it increases the model spread of snow
totals especially this far out. As we move closer and we get into
the range of the convective allowing models, we will get a much
better idea on the snow totals and locations of the higher snow
totals.

Coastal Hazard Potential...
As a low moves into the eastern Bering Sea today, it will bring
with it a fairly wide area of gale-force winds. Given the likely
storm track to the south of Nunivak Island, these winds should
remain largely easterly to southeasterly and offshore for areas
from Hooper Bay north. By Wednesday afternoon and evening, winds
shift more to the north, which could bring winds alongshore from
the Yukon Delta to Hooper Bay and onshore over northern St.
Lawrence Island. These areas are generally heavily ice-covered,
which should limit the overall flooding potential, but some water
rises through cracks in the ice at Hooper Bay are a possibility.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AK...Extreme Cold Warning for AKZ801>810.
     Extreme Cold Warning for AKZ811.
     Wind Advisory for AKZ849.
     Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ850.
     Blizzard Warning for AKZ820-821.
     Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ822-823.
     Blizzard Warning for AKZ824>827.
     Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ832.
     Cold Weather Advisory for AKZ833.
PK...Gale Warning for PKZ801.
     Gale Warning for PKZ802-803.
     Gale Warning for PKZ804.
     Gale Warning for PKZ805.
     Gale Warning for PKZ806.
     Gale Warning for PKZ807.
     Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ808.
     Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ809-855.
     Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ810-861.
     Gale Warning for PKZ811-857.
     Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ812-858.
     Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ814-815-860.
     Storm Warning for PKZ816.
     Storm Warning for PKZ817.
     Gale Warning for PKZ850.
     Storm Warning for PKZ851-854.
     Gale Warning for PKZ852-853.
     Gale Warning for PKZ856.
     Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ859.
&&

Dennis

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 blizzard, 4 heavy snow, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Yukon Delta Coast

When: February 10, 6:15 AM AKST to 10:20 PM AKST
Where: Yukon Delta Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 61.991, -164.553 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall began shortly after midnight along the Yukon Delta coast and by mid morning, heavy snow and strong winds had resulted in blizzard conditions all along the coast as well as inland. The Chevak AWOS (PAVA) began reporting wind gusts in excess of 35 mph and visibilities as low as 1/4 mile shortly after 6am with full on blizzard conditions in place a few hours later. Blizzard conditions continued for approximately 16 hours with winds gusting to between 40 and 45 mph and the visibility dropping to around 1/10 mile at times. Meanwhile along the immediate coast the Hooper Bay AWOS (PAHP) was reporting similar conditions.

Blizzard, Lower Yukon River

When: February 10, 12:10 PM AKST to 3:30 PM AKST
Where: Lower Yukon River forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 61.991, -164.553 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snow began falling during the early morning hours of the 10th with the heaviest snow developing a few hours later. By midday strong winds and heavy snow had become established throughout the Lower Yukon Valley. The Marshall AWOS (PADM) began reporting blizzard like conditions with wind speeds exceeding 35 mph and the visibility lowering to around 1/4 mile around midday. By mid afternoon Blizzard conditions were ongoing and the visibility fell to around 1/10 mile as winds gusted as high as 47 mph. The blizzard subsided a few hours later, but heavy snow and strong winds kept the visibility at or below one mile well into the evening hours.

Blizzard, Bering Strait Coast

When: February 11, 3:30 PM AKST to 8:25 PM AKST
Where: Bering Strait Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 64.833, -163.751 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snow began along the Bering Strait Coast shortly after midnight on the 11th and picked up in intensity as the night wore on. By mid morning the visibility reported by the Brevig Mission AWOS (PFKT) had dropped to 1/4 mile with wind gusts exceeding 35 mph. Shortly after midday full on blizzard conditions were occurring with blowing snow and the visibility dropping further to near 1/10 mile. During this time frame a max wind gust of 51 mph was re corded. By late afternoon conditions began to improve a bit, but the visibility stayed well below one mile for several more hours as strong wind gusts in excess of 40 mph continued.

Blizzard, Western Arctic Coast

When: February 11, 10:15 PM AKST to February 13, 3:40 AM AKST
Where: Western Arctic Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 69.251, -152.001 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snow began along the Western Arctic Coast shortly after midnight on the 11th. By mid morning on the 12th strong winds and heavy snow had brought the visibility down to around 1/4 mile at the Point Lay AWOS (PPIZ), resulting in near blizzard conditions with winds sustained around 30 mph. The visibility dropped further as winds climbed to above 35 mph shortly before midnight. Blizzard conditions continued for approximately 30 hours at Point Lay as winds gusted to between 40 and 50 mph resulting in considerable blowing snow.

Winter Storm, White Mountains and High Terrain South of the Yukon River

When: February 13, 9:30 AM AKST to February 14, 9:00 PM AKST
Where: White Mountains and High Terrain South of the Yukon River forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 65.700, -152.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

As the winter storm was approaching, strong winds accompanied a front over the higher terrain northeast of Fairbanks. AKDOT personnel initially reported a closure of Eagle Summit along the Steese Highway around Noon on the 13th. The report included heavy snowfall and strong winds estimated at 40 mph or greater resulting in blowing snow and poor visibility. Heavy drifting of snow on the roadway was also reported.

Blizzard, Yukon Delta Coast

When: February 13, 11:20 AM AKST to 4:15 PM AKST
Where: Yukon Delta Coast forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 61.991, -164.553 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard conditions returned to the Yukon Delta Coast during the late morning hours of the 13th. The Hooper Bay AWOS (PAHP) reported strong east winds gusting to between 35 and 40 miles per hour along with heavy snow and visibility readings of 1/4 mile for approximately 7 hours. The winds began to subside enough for subsequent improvements in visibility by late afternoon and the snow eventually changed over to light rain, thus ending the blizzard.

Heavy Snow, Southern Seward Peninsula Coast

When: February 13, 12:00 PM AKST to February 14, 3:00 AM AKST
Where: Southern Seward Peninsula Coast forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL
Coordinates: 64.833, -163.751 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Rocky Point Snotel (RPTA2) reported a total snowfall amount of 11 inches in 15 hours along the southern Seward Peninsula coast.

Blizzard, St. Lawrence Island

When: February 13, 2:05 PM AKST to 11:10 PM AKST
Where: St. Lawrence Island forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 64.833, -163.751 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong northeast winds and heavy snow arrived at St Lawrence Island early on the 13th and continued throughout the day and into the wee hours of the next morning. By early afternoon the Gambell AWOS (PAGM) was reporting wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph and a visibility at or below 1/4 mile due to blowing snow. These blizzard conditions continued into the evening hours with strong winds continuing to produce near blizzard conditions well into the overnight hours before the winds finally weakened a bit.

Heavy Snow, Northern Denali Borough

When: February 14, 5:11 AM AKST to 10:11 PM AKST
Where: Northern Denali Borough forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 63.789, -150.192 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Public reports from Stampede Road northwest of Healy indicated a snowfall total of 20.5 inches in less than 24 hours on the 14th The nearby Healy MAWS (HEAA2) indicated that the snow fell between 5 am and 10 pm with the heaviest snow likely falling during the first 8 hours of the event.

Heavy Snow, Fairbanks Metro Area

When: February 14, 9:00 AM AKST to February 15, 9:00 AM AKST
Where: Fairbanks Metro Area forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 64.833, -146.417 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy snow developed during the morning hours of the 14th and continued for more than 20 hours before diminishing across the Fairbanks metro area and surrounding locations throughout the Middle Tanana Valley. The official snow total measured by NWS Fairbanks at the College Observatory COOP location (FAOA2) was 8.1 inches during the 24 hour period ending at 9am on the 15th. There were also numerous public reports from around the area that indicated anywhere from 8 to 12 inches of snow from this Valentines day snow storm.

Heavy Snow, Central Interior

When: February 14, 9:00 AM AKST to February 15, 9:00 AM AKST
Where: Central Interior forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 65.700, -152.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The COOP observer for Minchumina (LMHA2) reported a 24 snow total of 7.4 on the morning of the 15th. There was additional snowfall that fell outside this 24 hour window resulting in a storm total snowfall of 9.5. This data was supported by observations from the Minchumina AWOS (PAMH) which showed near constant light to moderate snowfall for almost 36 hours extending from the morning of the 14th through the afternoon of the 15th.

What these are

Blizzard: Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.
Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2026 Every state in 2026 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, February 2026

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: 1319926, 1319930, 1319931, 1319934, 1319943, 1319935, 1319939, 1319936, 1319938, 1319945, 1319947.