Snow blowing and snow fall on the North Slope, Alaska

Abstract

Blowing snow is a fairly common phenomenon on the North Slope of Alaska. Monthly mean values for blowing snow for a 10 year period are as high as 20% and 25% for Barrow and Barter Island, respectively. The higher values at Barter Island are the result of the somewhat higher windspeeds which occur there. At Barrow ENE or WNW winds are most frequently associated with blowing snow, while at Barter Island there is a main maximum with W winds and a secondary maximum with E winds. Barter Island receives more snow than Barrow. At Barrow, snowfall occurs most frequently with easterly winds; in contrast, at Barter Island most falling snow is observed with westerly winds and there is only a secondary maximum for winds from the east. Finally, an empirical formula was developed which gives the frequency of blowing snow from the wind velocity and the amount of snowfall on a monthly basis for the North Slope of Alaska.