Winter Weather — Kodiak Peninsula, Alaska

2024-02-13 to 2024-02-14 · Kodiak Peninsula, Alaska

Event narrative

NWS Anchorage called out multiple times to the Chignik city office to get an estimate of total snowfall they received. They reported a 9 inch storm total snowfall between February 13th and 2:30 PM AKST February 14th. Upon follow up on the morning of February 15th, the office estimated about a foot of new snowfall had fallen the previous day, in addition to about another foot overnight through 11 AM AKST February 15th. Area webcams also showed persistent falling snow and reduced visibility for much of this time period.

Wider weather episode

A strong ridge of high pressure in place over Northern Canada and extending into mainland Alaska worked in tandem with a deep upper trough over the Bering Sea to draw moisture north along an atmospheric river that remained in place across the Alaska Peninsula and into Southwest Alaska from February 14th through February 16th. A series of shortwave troughs driving northward led to several rounds of heavy precipitation for the area. There were two main shortwaves - the first brought snow to the south side of the Alaska Peninsula beginning early on Feb 14, pushing north into Bristol Bay and the Kuskokwim Delta, and westward along the Alaska Peninsula through the day. The second arrived during the afternoon/evening of Feb 15, bringing warmer air and reinforced heavier precipitation.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1165512. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.