# Blizzard Warning Issued for Northwest Alaska

> The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for parts of northwest Alaska, forecasting snow, high winds, and significantly reduced visibility.

By PrimaryBrief newsroom · Published 2026-10-23T12:42:21.877961Z
Canonical: https://primarybrief.com/article/blizzard-warning-issued-for-northwest-alaska-39f96194

The National Weather Service (NWS) Fairbanks office issued a Blizzard Warning for several areas in northwest Alaska [1]. The warning, issued on October 23 at 2:56 AM AKDT, is in effect from 10 AM AKDT Friday until 4 AM AKDT Saturday, October 24 [1]. Affected areas include the Baldwin Peninsula, Kivalina and Red Dog Dock, Lower Kobuk Valley, and the Northern Seward Peninsula [1].

Forecasters expect blizzard conditions, with total snow accumulations between 1 and 3 inches [1]. Winds are predicted to gust as high as 55 miles per hour [1]. Travel could become very difficult due to reduced visibility, which may drop below a quarter mile from falling and blowing snow [1]. Strong winds also carry a risk of power outages [1]. The strongest wind gusts are anticipated from Friday afternoon into early Saturday morning [1]. As south winds continue and temperatures warm, snow may transition to rain as early as Friday evening [1].

Separately, the NWS Fairbanks also issued a Blizzard Warning for the Interior Seward Peninsula, according to Atmostorm [2]. This warning, effective from October 23, 12:00 PM UTC, anticipates different conditions [2]. For the Interior Seward Peninsula, total snow accumulations are expected to be between 8 and 15 inches, with winds gusting as high as 65 miles per hour [2].

Earlier in the week, on October 20 at 2:37 PM AKDT, NWS Fairbanks issued a Winter Storm Watch for the Baldwin Peninsula and Lower Kobuk Valley [3]. This watch, which was in effect until October 24 at 4:00 PM AKDT, indicated blowing snow was possible [3]. It forecast total snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches and winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour for these regions [3]. This prior watch also highlighted the potential for blowing snow to reduce visibility to a quarter mile or less [3].

## Evidence cited
1. NWS Blizzard Warning: Kivalina and Red Dog Dock; Lower Kobuk Valley; Baldwin Peninsula; Northern Seward Peninsula (nws_alerts) — https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.a6a6f7db3e1f5b8798b2199fa16bc3f80942fbce.004.1
2. Alaska blizzard, Oct 23–25: the warned areas on a map. — https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQFHbh_GcAJrXlgg9KpaW8HiVt1Q4oEPETcTbYOdFtYIAP9XfZgxQsfymrBwhhptxSnlr3eSGZKK4ss2clrI1krVYBe31WkaPriIvHP0pzYfTm6DTx_t4TczTSxELO_DIGnX5kwfaM3QhxBpVzTwDwrySu1r-WI0-mBs2dvNeH1VrIbcTRa3zWiDISq4TogZgwQnLKOnKKu8ol5e0SC-6Z7jgQLPHB7Al7YPfBs=
3. Winter Storm Watch - Lower Kobuk Valley; Baldwin Peninsula | Winter Weather Warnings — https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQEwOQbr_f4z0YdRQA6n6XF1Qwuko2P-ErnCOKq-rzLwb3MKq1CTAEB2vgodtvqdTwUzkLIiGbkOl29OZKUNhFfOhqv0Zx3ed9uCNeZ9CVyXoOu993O5i7svyKF0n82XvwUqXszK6nAPabLNQ2J4q5XKcuqkTkJabBLXaFObcQv2CoS91o_hGXwS8QLuKqUi_yCJrL5mZuQMLZka2K3c_MTZWFyHjSuVjvITJr8oRA==