Heavy Snow — Upper Chena River Valley, Alaska

2024-10-20 to 2024-10-23 · Upper Chena River Valley, Alaska

Event narrative

Heavy snow fell across the Upper Chena River Valley. The Monument Creek SNOTEL (MNCA) reported 7 inches of snow between noon on October 21st and 10 am on October 22nd, with a storm total amount of 15 inches. Mt. Ryan SNOTEL (MTRA2) reported 8 inches of snow between 7 pm on the 20th and 7 pm on the 21st, with a storm total of 18 inches. Munson Ridge SNOTEL (MSOA2) reported 12 inches of snow between midnight on the 21st and midnight on the 22nd, with a storm total amount of 18 inches. The Upper Chena SNOTEL (UCEA2)reported 9 inches of snow between the 21st and 22nd, with a storm total amounts of 13 inches.

Wider weather episode

A major fall storm quickly pushed across northern Alaska between October 20th and 23rd, with the low itself moving all the way inland. The storm brought coastal flooding, high winds, heavy precipitation, and a mix of precipitation, including a rain-snow mix and freezing rain. Over higher elevations in the Brooks Range, snow amounts approached 2 feet, with 12 to 15 inches across the higher elevation Interior regions above 2000 feet. As the front pushed across the West Coast, south to southwest winds across coastal locations gusted to greater than 55 mph, with winds in excess of 65 mph occurring over the Bering and Chukchi coastal sites. These strong south to southwest winds pushes a surge of water all along the West Coast, with surge values of 4 to 10 feet above mean higher high water, highest near Kotzebue and in eastern Norton Sound, resulting in coastal flooding. A 12 to 15 mb gradient across the Alaska Range resulted in strong and gusty south winds through the Alaska Range passes with gusts to 65 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1220293. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.