Avalanche — Western Prince William Sound, Alaska

2023-12-07 to 2023-12-08 · Western Prince William Sound, Alaska

Event narrative

The Grouse Creek Divide SNOTEL recorded an increase in snow depth of 10.7 inches between the afternoon of 12/7 and about 11 PM of the same evening. Heavy snow and blowing snow was also recorded intermittently in Seward and Whittier during this timeframe.

Wider weather episode

A negatively-tilted trough lifted across Southcentral Alaska between December 7th and 8th. The accompanying front produced a band of moderate to heavy snow which pushed north up the Kenai Peninsula, reaching Anchorage on the evening of Dec 7. The front passed through Anchorage around midnight, leading to a sharp end in precipitation. Several inches of snow fell across much of the rest of Southcentral Alaska with this frontal system as it moved past, ranging from mostly 6 to 13 inches for much of the Kenai Peninsula out to the Matanuska Valley, as well as the Prince William Sound area.

Meanwhile, the parent surface low of the front responsible for the snowfall event across Southcentral moved into the Kuskokwim Delta between December 7th and 8th, producing areas of snow, blowing snow and reduced visibility along the Kuskokwim Delta Coast.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1147373. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.