


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
665 FXAK67 PAJK 251755 AFDAJK Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Juneau AK 955 AM AKDT Wed Jun 25 2025 .UPDATE...Updated Aviation section with issuance of 18z TAFs. && .SHORT TERM.../through Wednesday night/...Trough exits the area to the north today, bringing decreasing chances for showers. But as the next front approaches tonight, chances increase beginning in the southern panhandle late tonight into Thursday. Key Messages: -Light rain continues in the area with decreasing chances of rain later today. -Wind speeds should remain on the lighter side. -Near normal temps for late June. Details: 500mb trough of low pressure moves north today. As it does, the chances for rain decrease from south to north. But as the next front approaches late tonight into tomorrow, the rain chances increase again. At the surface, a weak shortwave embedded in the surface ridge will give elevated winds to N/S oriented marine areas, upwards of 15 knots though some models give some potential for upwards of 20 knots. As the shortwave exits through the northern panhandle tonight, wind speeds will decrease to 5 to 10 knots. Overall, Wednesday (today) is looking to play out as another cloudy and rainy day. .LONG TERM...The pattern of surface ridging over the panhandle with an upper level trough sitting over the Gulf continues to be the main story of the week, continuing this onshore flow and increased cloud cover to the panhandle through later in the week. This cloud cover will continues the trend of cooler maximum temperatures to in the 60s for the majority of the panhandle. Chances for light, showery precipitation will continue to last into Thursday and Friday as shortwaves continue to move around a surface low in the Bering Sea, though there will be a brief break for the central and northern panhandle on Thursday until the evening. Friday into Saturday our next system will approach the panhandle from the western Gulf, bringing a more structured front to the whole panhandle. This front will bring up the likelihood of rain but will be mostly light, with QPF amounts Friday being between 0.1 and 0.2 inches every 6 hours during the heaviest rainfall. So far it looks like the coastline and southern panhandle will see the most QPF Friday night through Saturday, while the rest of the panhandle will see the most QPF Saturday through Sunday morning. QPF probabilities have changed slightly from yesterday, with a higher 70-80% chance of over 0.3 inches in 24 hours for the southern panhandle Friday night into Saturday. The guidance has also changed to show us now lower probabilities for greater than 0.5 inches in 24 hours with only around a 30-40% chance. For the central and northern panhandle on Saturday night into Sunday, QPF probabilities of over 0.3 inches in 24 hours are only around 40%. Winds will increase in the Gulf as the low moves into the western Gulf by Thursday, with winds increasing to between 20 and 25 kts. The far northern coast still appears to have the strongest winds as there is potential for a coastal jet to affect the area Thursday night into Friday morning. The winds begin to decrease in the Gulf by Friday night as the front continues through into the panhandle, though the 20 to 25 kt wind will last longer between Cape Fairweather up through the Kayak Island area along the coastline. Southerly winds coming up through Dixon Entrance into Clarence Strait will also increase Thursday through Friday with winds between 15 and 20 kts pushing up into Clarence Strait. && .AVIATION... Continuing to see a mixed bag of flying conditions around SE AK this morning. Most areas are seeing low-end MVFR, but some locations are down to LIFR due to CIGS dropping to a few hundred feet and VIS dropping to less than 2SM due to the rain and BR. Some areas are beginning to see better conditions at higher end MVFR to occasional increases to VFR as CIGS get up to 3500 to 4000 ft. However these better conditions are not to last, as many areas are going to see big swings between high-end MVFR, low-end MVFR, and occasional drops to IFR. Expecting these big swings to continue through this morning into this afternoon as the rain transitions to showers and brings more occasional drops to CIGS and VIS as the showers move through. Improved conditions in the southern and central panhandle won`t last long today as flying conditions will lower again tonight as the next round of rain moves in from the south. The only locations at the moment that have really began improving in flying conditions are across the northern panhandle around Haines and Skagway, though some broken lower clouds still will linger around during the day today. This area will not likely see as much impact from showers throughout the day compared to the rest of the panhandle into tonight. Not seeing any concern for LLWS or turbulence for this system moving through. && .MARINE... Outer Waters: Outer waters still looking at a light westerly, swinging south, wind today at around 15 knots or less with seas up to 5 ft. Late tonight into tomorrow, a front will approach the panhandle, bringing SE wind speeds up to 20 to 25 knots in the gulf. As the front tracks inland Friday, southerly gulf winds will lower to around 10 to 20 knots with speeds like that lasting into the weekend. Inside Waters: It`s a wide range of weather out there in the inner channels this morning. Wind speeds range from light winds to around 15 knots from a southerly direction. As far as visibility is concerned, based on local area webcams, areas along and north of Frederick Sound has a bit of reduced visibility due to rain, low clouds, and fog. Looking ahead, visibility should slowly improve this morning for those areas that are seeing the thick fog. Wind speeds will be generally out of the south today. There is another shortwave expected today that will zip south-to-north, giving some times of wind speeds upwards of 15 to 20 knots in Lynn Canal, Stephen`s Passage, Clarence Strait, and near Point Couverden. Wind speeds decrease tonight. && .HYDROLOGY... Main hydrology concern is still centered around the Chilkat River in the northern panhandle. Flooding is ongoing as of early Wednesday morning. While the river level has been dropping since early Monday morning, rain has moved into the area, which has slowed the fall of the river and even caused the river to turn around and start rising again. Will likely keep the Flood Advisory active through Wednesday evening. That being said, the reported river level is very close to minor flood stage (with 0.10 of a foot). Will continue to monitor and if the river level drops to below flood stage, and is forecast to stay below flood stage, the advisory may be canceled early. && .AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...GJS LONG TERM....Contino AVIATION...Contino MARINE...GJS HYDROLOGY...GJS Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/Juneau