Winter Storm — Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

2023-03-01 · Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

Event narrative

Snow began late on February 28th and became heavy through the following morning with periodic gusts of around 30mph and a peak of 52mph at Hydaburg. A change to rain happened in the late morning. A trained spotter in Craig measured 5 inches of snow, blizzard like conditions and a power outage at 545am. A CoCoRaHS observer in Edna Bay measured 12 inches of snow by 7am. Thorne Bay COOP on the east side of the island measured 4 inches from this event.

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 1082522. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.