Google and adn is really our friends
From
wikipedia:
On March 14 to March 15, a storm along the southern shore of the Seward Peninsula grounded most airplanes, which prevented the small aircraft of the Iditarod Air Force from flying veterinarians and race officials into White Mountain before the leaders arrived, though local volunteers were present. The whiteout conditions and open water on the trail made snowmobile travel unsafe. This is the first time since at least 1988 that veterinarians were present to check teams arriving at a checkpoint, and the single veterinarian at Elim was overworked. Flights began again on March 16, but gusts of winds remained high (30 to 35 mph).
This is from wikipedia, so the information might not be accurate (but it usually is
)
..and then from adnsearch.com:
Pinned down by bad weather in White Mountain on Tuesday, Chugiak pilot Paul Claus and Susitna Valley teacher Kathy Chapoton, wife of musher Martin Buser, got drafted as "volunteers'' for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
For 24 hours straight, they were the checkers, dropped-dog handlers, communications coordinator and veterinarian for what is one of the most important checkpoints on the 1,100-mile trail from Anchorage to Nome.
This article is from March 17, 2005.
During my search I also found an article from 2002, doing an
year by year description of Iditarod.