Winter Weather — Bristol Bay, Alaska

2022-11-01 to 2022-11-02 · Bristol Bay, Alaska

Event narrative

Periods of blowing snow and snow were reported at a number of AWOS sites across mainly the western half of Bristol Bay, with the worst conditions progressing from west to east between the afternoon of November 1st into the evening and overnight hours. Dillingham Police reported that wind and snow began around Noon AKST 11/1 with visibility dropping to 1/4 mile or less at times and total snowfall of up to 4 to 6 inches per a report via Dillingham radio. Winds Gusted pretty hard, but no damage was reported. The Dillingham AWOS also reported 1/2 mile snow with wind gusts near 30 mph around 2 PM AKST 11/1. Nearby AWOS sites reported similar or worse conditions as the heaviest snowfall and strongest winds moved past, including Platinum, Koliganek, Manokotak and Iguigig. Much stronger gusts were observed at some of these sites, including a gust up to 50 kts or 57 mph at Platinum at 11 AM AKST 11/1.

Wider weather episode

A frontal system tracking east across the Bering Sea at the tail end of October reached the Southwest Alaska as a new low developed along the boundary between November 1st and 2nd and strengthened up until moving ashore near the Kuskokwim Delta. This system brought a multitude of impacts to portions of the region as it headed inland, ranging from minor coastal flooding due to strong onshore winds in portions of Bristol Bay to periods of significant falling and blowing snow, again predominantly focused near the coastline.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1093145. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.