Winter Storm — Glacier Bay, Alaska

2017-03-12 to 2017-03-13 · Glacier Bay, Alaska

Event narrative

Gustavus got 5.6 inches of new snow by 0800 3/13 and by 200 the storm total was 8.6 with more light snow after that.

Wider weather episode

On 3/12 the arctic front was over the central Panhandle as another in a series of storms moved northward from off the Pacific Northwest. By the afternoon of 3/12 the storm center had deepened to 981 MB off Dixon Entrance forcing warm moist air over the arctic air in place. The result was heavy snow for most of the Panhandle into 3/13 and lingering snow into 3/14. The impact was intense snow removal for storm totals up to 20 inches on top of an already deep snowpack. This was a setup for avalanches later that week.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 681036. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.