Winter Storm — Petersburg Borough, Alaska

2023-03-01 · Petersburg Borough, Alaska

Event narrative

Snow began late on February 28th and became heavy through the following morning with periodic gusts of around 25mph. A change to rain happened in the afternoon. The COOP station at the Petersburg airport measured 6 inches by 1248pm with rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour and significant settling. A storm total of 9 inches was measured at their official measurement time of 9pm that night.

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 1082375. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.