Arctic coast winter weather advisory runs through Friday, with gusts to 45 mph

The National Weather Service in Fairbanks updated a winter weather advisory for Alaska's Arctic coast on Wednesday. The advisory holds until 3 pm Friday, Nov. 6, with snow, blowing snow and wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph.

The advisory covers the Northern Arctic Coast, the Central Beaufort Sea Coast and the Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast. The Fairbanks forecast discussion named Utqiagvik and Kaktovik as the ends of the affected coastline.

Forecasters said blowing snow could cut visibility below half a mile. Localized blizzard conditions are possible, and travel could be difficult.

Up to 2 inches of snow is forecast. The visibility risk comes from wind moving that snow across the ground.

The weather service said the strongest gusts will come immediately along the coast Thursday night into Friday afternoon. Winds will be lighter farther inland.

The forecast has shifted with each update. The weather service first issued the advisory Tuesday morning, with gusts as high as 50 mph. An early Wednesday update kept that range and put the strongest winds Thursday morning. The early afternoon update trimmed the top gust to 45 mph and moved the peak to Thursday night.

The same coast has seen advisories this fall. On Oct. 15, the Fairbanks office issued a winter weather advisory for the Central and Eastern Beaufort Sea Coast with gusts to 40 mph. An update the next day warned of gusts up to 50 mph and pockets of freezing drizzle.

The wind will not stop when the advisory ends Friday afternoon. The weather service called this a long-duration wind event, with gusty winds expected to continue through the weekend. The forecast discussion said east winds along the Arctic coast would stay elevated through the weekend.

The weather service asks travelers to slow down and use caution.