Heavy Snow — Lower Yukon Valley, Alaska

2010-01-04 to 2010-01-05 · Lower Yukon Valley, Alaska

Wider weather episode

A 968 mb low near the central Aleutians combined with a strong ridge of high pressure across eastern Russia to produce blizzard conditions at Gambell on Saint Lawrence Island as well as at Cape Romanzoff along the Yukon Delta Coast. Heavy snow was observed at Mountain Village along the Yukon Delta. Heavy snowfall was also observed at Shageluk in the lower Yukon Valley, and at Shaktoolik along the eastern Norton Sound. A disturbance developed along a frontal boundary that extended from the low into Norton Sound, and produced heavy snowfall along parts of the Seward Peninsula. Eight inches of snow was observed at Buckland.

Zone 210: Snow fell at Buckland from about 10 pm AKST on the 4th and continued until about 6 pm AKST on the 5th. Some of the snow fell heavily at times, and a total of 8 inches of snow was observed at Buckland.

Zone 212: Heavy snow fell along parts of the eastern Norton Sound Coast. It was estimated that 5 to 10 inches of snow fell at Shaktoolik. The amount of snow that fell was nearly impossible to measure due to significant blowing and drifting snow. Snow drifts of at least 4 feet were observed by the morning of the 5th as the storm ended.

Zone 213: Blizzard conditions were observed at Gambell on Saint Lawrence Island from 4 am AKST until 2 pm AKST on the 4th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. The wind at the Gambell AWOS gusted as high as 49kt/56 mph.

Zone 214: Heavy snowfall was observed at Mountain Village with a storm total of 8 to 9 inches. Blizzard conditions were observed at Cape Romanzof along the coast during the late morning and early afternoon hours on the 4th. The visibility was reduced to less than one quarter or a mile, and the wind gusted as high as 45kt/52 mph at the Cape Romanzof AWOS.

Zone 215: Heavy snowfall was observed at Shageluk with a storm total of approximately 6 inches. The amount of snow that fell was difficult to measure due to extensive drifting of the snow that fell.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 201173. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.