Blizzard — N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R, Alaska
2011-12-04 to 2011-12-05 · N. Brooks Rng E of Colville R, Alaska
Wider weather episode
A 960 mb low approximately 200 miles west of Nunivak Island at 1500AKST on the 3rd moved north to Saint Lawrence Island by 0300AKST on the 4th as a 968 mb low. The low drifted slowly north to the Bering Strait as a 970 mb low by 1500AKST on the 4th. The low then weakened to 997 mb near Barrow by 0900AKST on the 5th and dissipated as a new 968 mb low developed bear Banks Island by 1500AKST on the 5th. The low produced heavy snow and blizzard conditions along much of the west coast and arctic coast. A strong Chinook produced high winds, freezing rain and snow in parts of the interior.
Zone 201: Blizzard conditions were observed at Wainwright from approximately 0045AKST through 1630AKST on the 4th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust to 45 kt (52 mph) at the Wainwright ASOS. Blizzard conditions were observed at Atqasuk from approximately 0315AKST through 1445AKST on the 4th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust to 49 kt (56 mph) at the Atqasuk AWSS. Blizzard conditions were also likely observed at Point Lay from approximately 2145AKST on the 3rd until 1300AKST on the 4th. The visibility sensor became inoperable during the event, but was reporting a visibility of one quarter mile at the onset of the snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust to 51 kt (59 mph) at the Point Lay AWOS.
Zone 202: Blizzard conditions were observed at Barrow from approximately 0457ASKT through 1709AKST on the 4th. The visibility was frequently one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. The peak wind gust was 45 kt (52 mph) at the Barrow ASOS.
Zone 203: Blizzard conditions were observed at Deadhorse from approximately 0330AKST through 1100AKST on the 4th. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust to 44 kt (51 mph) at the Deadhorse ASOS. Blizzard conditions were also observed at Nuiqsut from approximately 0400AKST through 1100AKST. The ending time of the blizzard conditions was estimated due to missing observations. There was a peak wind gust to 46 kt(53 mph) at the Nuiqsut ASOS. Blizzard conditions were also observed at the Alpine Airport during the morning hours on the 4th. The start time of the blizzard conditions is unknown as the weather observer starting taking observations at 0500AKST and the blizzard had already begun. The blizzard conditions ended by noon AKST. There was a peak wind gust to 48 kt (55 mph) at the Alpine airport.
Zone 204: Blizzard conditions likely occurred at Barter Island at times from approximately 1500AKST on the 5th through 0600AKST on the 6th. There was a peak wind gust to 56 kt (64 mph) at the Barter Island AWOS. Although the visibility sensor did not drop below one half mile, blizzard conditions frequently occur at Barter Island when the visibility sensor does not indicate visibilities of one quarter mile or less.
Zone 205: Blizzard conditions likely occurred at times during the morning and early afternoon hours on the 4th. There are no observations in the zone to confirm the blizzard conditions, but based on the observations along the western and northern Arctic Coast, it is likely that blizzard conditions occurred.
Zone 206: Blizzard conditions likely occurred through Atigun Pass from the early morning hours on the 4th through the afternoon hours on the 5th. According to DOT reports there were wind gusts estimated to 39 kt (45 mph) and heavy drifting and blowing snow with zero visibility.
Zone 207: Blizzard conditions were observed at Point Hope from approximately 1945AKST through 2330AKST on the 4th. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust of 52 kt (60 mph) at the Point Hope AWOS. At Shishmaref and Kivalina, there were brief periods of blizzard conditions during the afternoon and evening hours on the 4th, but the conditions did not last for more than a couple of hours.
Zone 209: Blizzard conditions were observed at Noorvik from approximately 1357AKST through 1803AKST on the 3rd. The visibility was frequently reduced to one quarter mile in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust of 45 kt (52 mph) at the Noorvik AWOS. Blizzard conditions were also observed at Selawik from approximately 1256AKST through 1836AKST on the 3rd. The visibility was reduced to near zero at times in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust of 40 kt (46 mph) at the Selawik AWOS. A brief period of blizzard conditions were observed at Kotzebue during the afternoon on the 3rd, but during most of the event the visibility was one half mile or more. There was a peak wind gust to 51 kt (59 mph) at the Kotzebue ASOS.
Zone 211: Blizzard conditions were observed at Golovin on the 3rd from approximately 0836AKST to 1616AKST. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile in snow and blowing snow with a peak wind gust of 55 kt (63 mph) observed at the Golovin AWOS. Blizzard conditions were also observed at Nome on the 3rd from 1053AKST through 1553AKST. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile in snow and blowing snow with a peak wind gusts of 36 kt (41 mph).
Zone 213: Blizzard conditions were observed at Gambell from approximately 0930AKST on the 3rd through sometime late in the evening on the 3rd. The visibility was frequently less than one quarter mile in snow and blowing snow. The AWOS tower was knocked down in the storm, so the ending time is uncertain. There was a peak wind gust to 49 kt (56 mph) prior to the AWOS tower being blown over. At Savoonga, blizzard conditions were observed from approximately 1130AKST through 1500AKST on the 3rd. The wind gusted as high as 46 kt (53 mph) at the Savoonga AWOS. At Wales, there was a brief period of blizzard conditions during the early afternoon hours on the 3rd, but the visibility only briefly dropped to one quarter of a mile.
Zone 214: Heavy snow fell in spots across the Yukon Delta from the morning hours on the 3rd through the early morning hours on the 4th. Up to 8 inches of snow was observed at Marshall. The snow likely changed to freezing rain in many areas during the afternoon on the 3rd, and continued into the early morning hours on the 4th. It is likely that there were areas that observed one quarter of an inch or more of ice accretion. Along the coast, there was a period of blizzard conditions observed at Cape Romanzoff at the onset of the storm from approximately 0200AKST through 0900AKST. The visibility was reduced to one quarter mile or less in snow and blowing snow.
Zone 215: Heavy snow fell across the lower Yukon Valley. The snow may have changed over to freezing rain at times during the morning and early afternoon hours on the 4th, mainly from Anvik south. A storm total in excess of 12 inches was observed at Anvik.
Zone 216: Heavy snowfall and significant blowing and drifting snow were observed across the lower Yukon Valley. Snow began at Ruby at approximately 1000AKST on the 3rd and continued to fall steadily through 0930AKST on the 4th. The cooperative observer 14 miles northeast of Ruby observed a storm total of 13.5 inches. The visibility at the Ruby airport dropped to one quarter mile or less at times during the afternoon of the 3rd in snow and blowing snow. There was a peak wind gust to 34 kt (40 mph) at the Ruby AWSS. There were reports of snow drifts up to 3 feet deep in the Ruby area. At Galena, it was estimated that a total of 8 inches of snow fell. There were spotter reports that the visibility was reduced to one quarter of a mile or less at times during the afternoon of the 3rd in the vicinity of the airport. At Huslia, the snow began at approximately 1045AKST on the 3rd and continued to fall steadily through 0930AKST on the 4th. There were reports of snow drifts that were 2 to 3 feet deep, but it was nearly impossible to measure the amount of snow that fell due to significant blowing and drifting snow. The wind gusted as high as 35 kt/43 mph at the Huslia AWOS.
Zone 217: Heavy snowfall was observed at Ambler. Five inches of snow was observed from 1700AKST through 2120AKST on the 3rd. Based on the observations from the Ambler AWOS it is likely that the snow continued to fall heavily at times through the early morning hours on the 4th. It is estimated that the storm total snowfall was close to one foot.
Zone 218: Heavy snowfall was observed at Wiseman from late on the 3rd through the morning on the 5th. A storm total of 21 inches was reported by the cooperative weather observer at Wiseman, but the beginning and ending times of the event are estimated.
Zone 219: Heavy snowfall was observed at Bettles from the late afternoon on the 3rd through the early afternoon on the 4th. A storm total of 14.4 inches was reported by the weather observer at the Bettles airport.
Zone 220: Blizzard conditions were observed along the higher Steese Highway summits. At Eagle summit, the wind gusted as high as 48 kt (55 mph) and the visibility was reduced to near zero at times in heavy drifting and blowing snow. The DOT reported snow drifts of 5 to 6 feet at Eagle Summit. The blizzard conditions at Eagle Summit likely occurred from approximately 1900AKST on the 3rd through 0600AKST on the 6th.
Zone 222: A strong Chinook sent temperatures soaring to 47 degrees at Fairbanks International Airport during the late morning hours on the 4th. This was the warmest temperature observed in Fairbanks during the month of December since 1934.
As the Chinook ended, light rain developed and with ground temperatures below freezing the rain froze on roads and any other untreated surfaces and produced up to one quarter of an inch of ice accumulation in spots around the Fairbanks area. The rain quickly changed over to snow by mid-afternoon as colder air moved back into the area. Although the snowfall was light, it was accompanied by strong wind at times. The wind gusted as high as 44 kt (51 mph) at the Fairbanks International Airport during the late morning hours on the 5th. There were some reports of trees knocked down in the Fairbanks and North Pole areas. It is also likely that near blizzard conditions occurred with significant blowing and drifting snow along the higher and more exposed spots along the Steese Highway north of Fairbanks such as Cleary Summit.
Zone 224: Freezing rain was observed along the Alaska Highway from the Robertson River Bridge to Northway on the 4th from the late morning hours through the early evening. The highway was reported to be an ice skating rink, and it is likely that there was up to one half of an inch of ice in spots. The freezing rain changed to snow during the evening of the 4th with accumulations of up to 6 inches by the afternoon of the 5th. There was a report of 5 inches of snow in a two hour period at Tanacross.
Zone 225: High winds were observed at Antler Creek during the afternoon on the 3rd through the early morning on the 4th. There was a peak wind gust of 70 kt (81 mph) at 1620AKST on the 3rd at the Antler Creek DOT RWIS (on the Parks Highway MP 244). There were also reports from the DOT of freezing rain along the Parks Highway during the morning hours on the 4th. The weather observer in Healy reported that the roads were completely glazed over with ice with 3 tenths of an inch of freezing rain. Denali Park Headquarters observed two tenths of an inch of freezing rain, and one tenth of an inch of freezing rain was observed at Nenana. As temperatures fell during the afternoon the freezing rain changed over to snow, with a total of 5 inches of snow at the Denali Park Headquarters by the morning of the 5th.
Zone 227: Freezing rain was observed at McGrath intermittently from approximately 1345AKST on the 3rd until 1500AKST on the 4th. One quarter to one half inch of freezing rain was observed at the McGrath WSO. The freezing rain was mixed at times with snow. A total of 1.8 inches of snow was observed on the 3rd with 2 inches on the 4th. There was a peak wind gust of 37 kt (43 mph) at the McGrath ASOS.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 351066. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.