Blizzard in Central Beaufort Sea Coast, Alaska

Strong west and southwest winds that had been confined to the Eastern Arctic coast began to spread further west along the central Beaufort Sea coast during the late morning hours of March 20th. A little after midday, the Deadhorse ASOS (PASC) began indicating sustained winds of 30 mph with gusts to 35 mph or higher. These winds lofted snow and the blowing snow dropped the visibility to around 1/4 mile. Conditions were made worse by ice fog that also developed across the region. These blizzard conditions persisted about 8 hours before the blowing snow and winds subsided enough to allow for improvements in the visibility.

Heading into the third weekend of March, yet another strong disturbance approached Alaska's Arctic coastline from the north. And as a result, blizzard conditions developed across portions of the NE Arctic coast for the forth time in a span of only 3 weeks. This time the swath of stronger westerly winds expanded to include areas from Deadhorse all the way east to Barter Island and beyond.