for those following at home, with guidance i was able to fix the problem.
it turns out the minimum TLS version for Azure storage accounts is set to 1.2, whereas the default for Azure Feature Pack is 1.0.
two options to fix.
1- the simpler but less secure method: in storage account configuration, decrease minimum TLS version to 1.0, which downgrades security
2- the more secure but more complex method: add two DWORDs to Registry Editor as described here
hope that helps anyone having this issue