Blizzard — Northwest Arctic Coast, Alaska

2026-01-28 · Northwest Arctic Coast, Alaska

Event narrative

Windy conditions redeveloped along the Northwest Arctic coast during the morning hours of the the 28th. While occasional light snow fell, there was plenty of blowable snow on the ground to produce a ground blizzard as the day wore on. The Atqasuk AWOS (PATQ) began reporting blowing snow and visibility readings of around 1/4 mile during the morning hours with gusts of 40 mph common. These conditions persisted into the evening hours before the winds subsided enough to allow for improving visibility readings.

Wider weather episode

A deep upper-level low over the Eastern Arctic tracked southwest toward the Bering Strait during the last week of January. This system pushed a cold front across the region, producing very strong winds along and immediately behind the boundary. These winds triggered initial blizzard conditions along the Northwest Arctic coast, which then spread westward toward the western Seward Peninsula.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1313567. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.