804
FXAK68 PAFC 111259
AFDAFC

Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
459 AM AKDT Wed Jun 11 2025

.SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3: Today
through Friday)...

Skies will continue to clear as a low pressure system in the Gulf
of Alaska pushes south and a high pressure ridge continues to
push into Southcentral. Temperatures will also steadily rise over
the next couple days with highs in the mid 60`s to mid 70`s for
Thursday and Friday.

The big uncertainty to the forecast will be the extent of
afternoon and evening showers and potential thunderstorms today
and tomorrow, and to a lesser extent, Friday. The atmosphere is
rather unstable with residual cool air aloft, even with the ridge
building in. Mountains will provide some elevated heating to help
initiate this afternoon and evening convection, though it should
mostly remain over the mountains. Another interesting factor that
could weigh in is that there has bee some recent snowfall of many
of the Southcentral Mountains with the very cold system over the
past week. This could then inhibit some of that elevated hating
just mentioned. As always, there is a balance of opposing forces!
So while there should be a good bit of sunny weather upcoming,
there does remain the possibility for afternoon and evening
showers and thunderstorms over the Talkeetna and Chugach Mountains
and into the Copper River Basin today and tomorrow.

&&

.SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA (Days 1 through 3)...

A low moves over the Western Aleutians overnight into early this
morning, bringing continue light rain showers and cloudy skies to
the area. Most of Southwest Alaska will continue to see drier
conditions with mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies today. Cloud
cover will continue to spill eastward to cover more of Southwest
Alaska over the next couple of days. Nunivak Island and the
Kuskokwim Delta coast will continue to see periods of rain over
the next couple of days.

Another separate low pushes out of the North Pacific
towards the Aleutian Chain Thursday night into Friday morning. Its
front brings a reinvigorated round of precipitation to the
Eastern Aleutians and southern Alaska Peninsula as well as a
swath of southerly small craft winds with areas of gales through
the gaps north of the Eastern Aleutians.

Expect steady onshore flow into the Kuskokwim Delta coast
to persist. This will coincide with the full moon and
astronomical high tide, potentially resulting in coastal waters
rising slightly higher than the highest astronomical tide line.
This pattern may persist into the early weekend, and as a front
moves over the Southwest coastline by late Friday, onshore winds
may increase.

&&

.LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7: Saturday through
Tuesday)...

Not much change from yesterday`s long term discussion. Expect
generally unsettled weather as several lows move across the region
late this week and into early next week. The worst conditions
during this 4-day span will likely be focused along the Eastern
Bering Sea, ALaska Peninsula, Southwest Mainland, and Kodiak
Island as a robust North Pacific low moves north along the
Southwest ALaska coastline through Saturday. Increasing confidence
in the low track means that there is also increasing confidence
in gusty winds winds through the gaps and passes of the ALaska
Peninsula, as well as through Kamishak Gap and into interior
Bristol Bay. Additionally, periods of moderate to heavy rain will
also be likely along the Pacific side of the Alaska Peninsula
given the plentiful moisture advection associated with this storm.
As the low will move through rather quickly, total rain
accumulations shouldn`t be too excessive. ANother storm grazes the
Central/eastern ALeutians and Southern ALaska Peninsula Saturday
afternoon through Sunday, then slides south into the North Pacific
through Monday. With the storm track remaining further south, the
worst conditions will remain offshore. For the western
Bering/Aleutians, fairly quiet weather with winds expected to
remain below 25 kt and areas of rain showers.

Shifting gears to Southcentral ALaska, easterly waves emanating
from a retrograding upper low will lead to more widespread rain,
and a transition away from the warmer and drier conditions earlier
in the week. The placement of the upper low continues to vary
greatly among the models, leading to uncertainty with the timing
and extent of rain.

- KC

&&

.AVIATION...
PANC...VFR conditions and light winds will continue. A sea breeze
is expected this afternoon.

&&

$$