Blizzard in Western Arctic Coast, Alaska

Snow began along the Western Arctic Coast shortly after midnight on the 11th. By mid morning on the 12th strong winds and heavy snow had brought the visibility down to around 1/4 mile at the Point Lay AWOS (PPIZ), resulting in near blizzard conditions with winds sustained around 30 mph. The visibility dropped further as winds climbed to above 35 mph shortly before midnight. Blizzard conditions continued for approximately 30 hours at Point Lay as winds gusted to between 40 and 50 mph resulting in considerable blowing snow.

The second week of February saw the first of 3 back to back major winter storms move across Alaska's West Coast and Interior. The week began with abnormally cold readings across the all of Northern and Central Alaska. By Monday a very strong storm system entered the Bering Sea and proceeded to move northeastward across the West Coast and the Interior of Alaska over the next several days. Initially the storm brought heavy snow and strong winds from the Bering Strait coastline down to the Yukon Delta region which resulted in blizzard conditions. As the storm moved deeper into the Interior the storm produced heavy snowfall and occasional snow squalls.