Heavy Snow — Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

2025-01-30 to 2025-01-31 · Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

Event narrative

Snow began in the early morning hours of the 30th, with periods of heavy rates, resulting in a social media report of 6 inches by 1235pm in Craig on the west side of Prince of Wales Island. Another report from a traveler from Hollis had only 4 inches there on the east side of the island, but estimated nearly 16 inches over the Hollis to Klawock Highway at 152pm. Periods of heavy snow continued through the late hours before ending after just over 24 hours. The COOP in Klawock also noted significant snowfall during this event, with a depth of 18 inches by the end of it. Another social media report from Whale Pass on the NE side of the island estimated 12 inches of snow from this event.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure set up off the coast of Yakutat causing bands of snow showers to train over the region. This made for a long duration event with some locations seeing equally long breaks between the snow showers. Warning level rates were observed during the bands of snow and observers added them together.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1257269. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.