Blizzard — Eastern Aleutians, Alaska

2013-03-06 · Eastern Aleutians, Alaska

Event narrative

As the low passed south of the Eastern Aleutian Islands the pressure gradient rapidly increased over the Unalaska area. In addition to the strong winds snowfall increased and blowing snow reduced the visibility to 1/4 mile for almost four hours in Dutch Harbor (PADU). The peak of this event was around 5 PM AKST on March 6th when visibility remained at 1/4 mile in winds gusting to 44 mph and a peak gust that past hour to 64 mph. There were no reports of damage or injuries.

Wider weather episode

On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 6th, there was a 960 mb low with occluded front centered about 400 miles south of Dutch Harbor. This low continued to strengthen some as it progressed northward reaching a peak of 954 mb just south of the Alaska Peninsula on the morning of March 7th. This storm then started to weaken as it moved into Bristol Bay and then inland on March 8th. This storm brought high winds to the Anchorage area as well as blizzard conditions to parts of Southwest Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 442929. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.