Blizzard — Western Alaska Peninsula, Alaska

1999-12-11 to 1999-12-12 · Western Alaska Peninsula, Alaska

Wider weather episode

An "arctic type" low moved southward through the eastern Bering Sea to a position between Saint Paul Island and Unalaska mid-afternoon Saturday as an innocuous 1014 mb center. As the system turned southeast into the 'relatively milder' waters of the North Pacific, the very cold, unstable air aloft, associated with the low, triggered rapid deepening. By 3pm Sunday the low was an intense 986 mb storm 300 miles south of Cordova.Heavy snows were observed across the Pribilofs and Alaska Peninsula as the low passed...with snowfall amounts ranging from 6 to 12 inches in less than 24 hours. Brisk north and northwest winds on the back side of the low caused blizzard conditions in blowing snow along the Alaska Peninsula from Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5721638. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.