Winter Storm — Eastern Aleutians, Alaska

2025-04-03 to 2025-04-04 · Eastern Aleutians, Alaska

Event narrative

A representative of the Unalaska Department of Public Safety reported heavy snowfall and gusty winds at 11:30 AKST on April 3rd. She reported dangerous and slick road conditions. The Emergency Manager of Unalaska followed up at 4:00 PM AKDT the same day that road conditions remained extremely difficult due to dangerous road conditions. Two hours later, the Unalaska Department of Public Safety issued a Category 2 Travel Advisory advising caution when traveling due to high winds and blowing snow causing whiteout conditions. Furthermore, the Dutch Harbor ASOS weather station reported low visibility between one mile and half a mile from 8:30 AM AKDT to 10:00 PM AKDT April 3rd. Webcams in the Unalaska area confirmed this low visibilty. Winds were gusting to 40 to 46 kts at 7:00 PM AKDT April 3rd. On April 4th, The Emergency Manager of Unalaska reported 3 to 4 ft drifts over roads and parking lots with one related car accident. A second Emergency Manager called from their house at 500 ft and reported sustained wind speeds of 45 mph gusting to 65 mph in the morning hours. He also reported snow drifts as large as 12 to 15 ft tall and 8 to 10 inches of snow accumulation. In Akutan, visibility below half a mile was shown by a webcam in the evening hours of April 3rd. A TV meteorologist from KTUU relayed that a source in Akutan reported 8 to 10 inches of snow accumulation in the town with 2 to 4 ft snow berms on April 4th. Winds gusted to 60 mph.

Wider weather episode

A large north Pacific low moved south of the Eastern Aleutians/Alaska Peninsula Regions on April 3rd. This, combined with a ridge to the west over Shemya, an upper level low in the Central Aleutians, as well as cold air advection from the north allowed for tight pressure gradients. The tighter gradients led to strong, gusty winds that reached storm force strength from the Eastern Aleutians to the Kuskokwim Delta. Heavy snowfall also accompanied this low that, combined with the gusty winds, brought about blizzard conditions in the aforementioned regions.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1249927. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.