Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Anchorage, AK
Issued by NWS Anchorage, AK
666 FXAK68 PAFC 011339 AFDAFC Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Anchorage AK 539 AM AKDT Wed May 1 2024 .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3: Today through Friday night)... Another cloudy and otherwise seasonable day is on deck for much of southcentral Alaska. GOES satellite imagery shows a large upper- level low currently across the eastern Aleutians near the Alaska Peninsula, with an associated front stretching from the north Pacific into the AK Peninsula close to Kodiak Island. Meanwhile, ridging exists across northern BC into YT and into eastern southcentral Alaska. Radar imagery shows showery activity across the Gulf of Alaska and into the Kenai Peninsula northward into the Susitna Valley. Shower activity will continue through the morning and through at least the first half of the day as shortwave energy moves across marginally unstable air in the lower atmosphere. Precipitation amounts will generally be light and spotty through the Kenai Peninsula up through Mat-Su Valley. Southeast gap winds will increase today in response to a strengthening pressure gradient with the approach of the aforementioned front. Gusts of 25 to 35 mph are not out of the question across Turnagain Arm, West Anchorage and the Hillside, the Kink River Valley, and the Copper River Valley. Rain will be near continuous for Kodiak Island from later this afternoon through much of Thursday. Rainfall amounts in Kodiak City should be near an inch, with higher amounts in the mountains. The same frontal system will bring rain to the southern and coastal Kenai Peninsula into the PWS Thursday into Friday, with downsloping easterly flow keeping the west side of the Peninsula and Anchorage largely dry. -Brown && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA (Days 1 through 3: Today through Friday night)... A weakening low in the southern Bering Sea extends an occluded front across the Alaska Peninsula this morning, where it is bringing rain and gusty southeasterly winds. Ahead of the front, weak shortwaves lifting across Southwest Alaska are producing light rain with isolated to scattered showers. Southeasterly winds will increase this morning as the front pushes north into Southwest Alaska, reaching the northern Bristol Bay coast by this afternoon. Models are increasingly dry with this front, and the southeasterly downslope flow will act to suppress most shower activity. Rain will be most likely along the front near Dillingham today, however, some isolated showers will be possible elsewhere, with scattered showers most likely in the Lower Kuskokwim Valley this afternoon/evening. Precipitation will wane across Southwest Alaska heading into Thursday as the front slowly lifts north and continues to weaken. Out west, a low tracks into the western Bering Sea, its front pushing into the western Aleutians this evening with rain and gale force easterly winds. The front pushes quickly north and east, reaching the Pribilof Islands and the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula by Thursday night. A few inches of snow is possible for the Saint Paul and Saint George as the front lifts north through Friday. As the front lifts toward Southwest Alaska, accompanying upper-level troughing moving into the area promotes increasingly wetter conditions for the end of the week. CQ && .LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7: Saturday through Tuesday)... A weakening upper level ridge slips towards the Arctic Coast and recedes into Canada through the forecast period. A very broad upper level trough stretches from the Russian Far East across the Bering and Alaska Peninsula and Gulf of Alaska. This trough is well supported by an elongated jet along the Aleutians into the Gulf throughout the weekend, while the body of the trough persists over the Northern Bering. Ensemble means maintain good confidence through Tuesday. A well clustered upper low entering Bristol Bay Saturday moves into the Gulf of Alaska for Monday before shifting to the upper Southeast Panhandle by the end of the period. This low will also initiate moderate cold air along the Alaskan West Coast and bring somewhat below normal surface temperatures across Western Alaska. The main low brings gusty Westerly winds along the Aleutians and AKPEN, with a second wind area moving along the West Coast from the North through Sunday. A large area of rainfall spreads across the Aleutians and Bering across Southwest and Southcentral Alaska, with locally heavier amounts expected across Southcentral zones through Tuesday. Another round of widespread precipitations moves over the Western Aleutians and Bering on Sunday and moves East through Tuesday. - Kutz && .AVIATION... PANC...VFR conditions will persist through the TAF period. Southeasterly Turnagain Arm winds are expected to pick up again this afternoon before diminishing tonight. Winds thereafter should remain light out of the north. && $$