Winter Storm — Eastern Chichagof Island, Alaska

2023-03-01 · Eastern Chichagof Island, Alaska

Event narrative

Dry snow began late evening on February 28th and became heavy the following morning. Winds were gusting around 20mph through the morning with visibility down to a quarter mile at times. Some mixing with rain began in the afternoon, but periods of snow continued through the next morning. The Hoonah COOP measured 3.6 inches by 730am on the 1st and another 10.5 the next morning for a storm total of 14.1 inches.

Wider weather episode

A strong low pressure developed over the northern Gulf of Alaska bringing significant moisture to Southeast Alaska. Cold air entrenched over the region at low levels ahead of the event allowed for significant snow to fall across the area in two major pulses. The first being along the warm front, with a period of blizzard conditions over Juneau, and the second pulse occurred as the cold front moved across the region.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1082364. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.