Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
685 FXAK67 PAJK 171307 AFDAJK Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Juneau AK 507 AM AKDT Mon Jun 17 2024 .SHORT TERM...Marine layer low clouds continue to dominate the forecast for most of the panhandle today. This morning those clouds have invaded the inner channels to the northern end of Chatham Strait through Icy Strait and covered most of the southern inner channels south of Frederick Sound. Those clouds should retreat through the morning to mostly plague western Icy Strait to Gustavus, Cross Sound, Yakutat, Western Baranof and Western POW Islands. Though there could be some patches of clouds that stick around through the day farther inland. The low clouds are expected to return tonight and will likely cover a larger area than what they did overnight (likely getting to Angoon and Juneau this time). Daytime temperatures are again going to be mainly influenced by how much cloud cover an area has. Northern inner channels will likely be the warmest again today reaching into the 70s again with the clearer skies. Southern inner channels and especially the outer coast will see cooler day time highs (60s and possibly upper 50s in some areas) due to cloud cover part of or all day. Winds along the cloud cover edge could get a little frisky tonight in the north as well. Icy Strait got west winds up to 30 kt overnight due to the strong temperature gradient between the cooler outer coast and the warmer northern inner channels. Thinking that the same thing might happen again this evening so a Small craft advisory for Icy Strait is out for this evening. Otherwise winds for most areas are 20 kt or less. .LONG TERM...Summer continues across SE Alaska through the first half of the week, though more active weather is on the horizon. Get out and enjoy it while you can. A ridge will continue to hover over SE AK through Wednesday, with the axis slowly moving E over the Gulf and across the area. Dry, with afternoon sea breezes in the inner channels is the main theme over the next few days. By Thursday, a weak wave will attempt to advance through the ridge, bringing with it chances of rain, though operational guidance is likely overemphasizing PoP chances with this system. Anticipate fairly minimal QPF totals and wind impacts, if the system isn`t largely eroded away by the ridge itself. By the end of the week, an extension of a closed low over the Aleutians attempts to form into a longwave trough and move into the Gulf, bringing some onshore flow, cooler temperatures, and increasing PoPs through the weekend. Think that there is a good chance that much of the energy will move S of the panhandle, but still anticipate at least some chances of rain for the area. Afterwards, some clearing is increasingly likely for the latter half of Sunday or Monday, though this is not set in stone, with the GEPS being more pessimistic. Threats to coastal and gulf waters remain low through Thursday, with our swells significant deep ocean wave heights remaining largely under 8ft. With that said, stout 15 to 20 knot northwest winds along the coast will bring short period wind driven waves to the west coast of Prince of Wales and into Dixon Entrance. && .AVIATION...Marine layer has continued to spread this morning across the panhandle with more locations reporting MVFR down to IFR and some isolated LIFR conditions as compared to yesterday at this time. These conditions are expected to continue through the morning with places through the Inner channels seeing some reprieve during the daytime hours. These conditions are expected to return this evening though as the layer redevelops. Along the outer coast, very little in the way of improvement was noted yesterday. Current thinking is that today will be very similar to yesterday. For areas that do stay out of the marine layer, sea breezes are expected to return mid morning today and should persist with the heating of the day. && .HYDROLOGY...Flood advisory continues for the Chilkat River due to snowmelt. The river did briefly drop below minor flood stage last evening, but has since risen above it again. The Chilkat is expected to continue to fluctuate up and down on a daily pattern through the next few days with the river staying above minor flood stage for most of that time. && .AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory for PKZ021. && $$ SHORT TERM...EAL LONG TERM....GFS AVIATION...SF Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/Juneau