


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
108 FXAK67 PAJK 150641 AFDAJK Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Juneau AK 1041 PM AKDT Tue Oct 14 2025 .UPDATE...Update due 06z issuance, conditions overall continuing to as expected, with the ridge over much of the panhandle. There is some onshore flow for the Northeast gulf coast and into the Glacier Bay area that is occasionally developing some convection that has had isolate lightning strikes. Ceilings down to 1500 feet for some locations with most over 3000 feet. Winds in the Skagway area has gusty winds that will be diminishing overnight, with the strong wind so expect LLWS there. && .PREV DISCUSSION...ISSUED AT 358 PM Tue Oct 14... SHORT TERM...The gale force low that continues to impact the area is starting to make its jump inland this afternoon. When this low jumps inland, winds are still expected to pick up this afternoon before diminishing during the evening and overnight hours. With the decreasing winds high dew points at the surface, fog is expected to develop from the central down to the southern panhandle this evening. Farther north, fog is not expected to develop due to the winds persisting longer this evening before diminishing. We expect a break from the rain during the overnight and into the morning hours but this will be short as the next front moves across the Gulf and into the Panhandle. This will bring a return to rain across the area tomorrow afternoon and evening. The strongest winds with the front will be along the outer coast and over the water. Behind the front, onshore flow is expected to persist through the end of the short term forecast. LONG TERM...Not much change to the forecast for Thursday, with Thursday mainly functioning as the post frontal environment for the storm force low impacting the area on Wednesday night. Expecting to see southerly winds kick up to 25-30 knots in the inner channels associated with the frontal passage, with winds along the outer coast transitioning to SW near gales behind the front. It is possible to see some isolated pockets of short term gale force winds in the inner channels, but expecting to have this front shear apart as it moves inland. The big portion of the midrange forecast that raises the most questions is late Friday into the weekend. Both the EPS and GEFS have large discrepancies between the ensemble means, with run to run consistency favoring individual camps. Needless to say, a relatively tough forecast. The GEFS has the most spread between its individual members, but is in general agreement for a strong low moving NE to near the southern panhandle. With it, it is possible for gale force winds with even some indications of storm force winds for Clarence Strait and western coast of Prince of Wales Island. The Euro ensemble shows a significantly weaker system, pushed back much later to this weekend. Leaned toward the GEFS for todays forecast as this matched with the deterministic euro and gfs, but confidence for this system is not strong at the moment. && .AVIATION...Conditions are varied across the panhandle Tuesday and will continue to fluctuate between categories until Wednesday morning. Coastal communities are seeing VFR to IFR conditions in the wake of the front as showers push inland. CIGs AoB 5000ft are the underlying conditions, though showers will bring these CIGs down to AoB 2500ft with periods of moderate to heavy rain bringing VIS down to 2 SM or less as they pass over. The southern panhandle has stayed around MVFR CIGs with visible breaks in the distance, while the northern interior panhandle has largely stayed in the low end VFR range. Most of the panhandle CIGs will stay around 3000ft for the remainder of Tuesday, with rain trickling out through the evening from south to north. Petersburg is the only exception, with CIGs hovering around 300ft and VIS between 1 and 3 SM for most of the day, continuing through the evening. Winds with this system have largely reached their peak within the last hour for the northern panhandle and outer coast, with gusts around 20 to 30 kts and slowly decreasing. Winds in Skagway picked up a bit later than the rest of the panhandle, but they are now seeing sustained 40 kt winds with gusts towards the 60s. Winds will continue to decrease through the evening. LLWS has also begun to decrease for a majority of the panhandle, with 30-40 kts becoming 20-30 within the next 2 hours and continuing to drop from there. A few lightning strikes were observed within the vicinity of the Yakutat airport earlier today, though potential for more convection is quickly decreasing through the afternoon. Conditions will start improving into early Wednesday morning, except for the Lynn Canal and Skagway area where gusty winds will likely persist a little longer into Wednesday. Fog development through Wednesday morning for the southern panhandle is becoming more and more likely, with areas of dense fog down to 1/4 SM expected through the early morning hours from around 8Z at the earliest to around 18Z at the latest. Another front moves into the northern panhandle at the very end of the period, bringing rain and lowered conditions with gusty winds into Wednesday evening. && .MARINE... Outside (Gulf and Coastal Waters): The active weather continues for the Gulf and outer coast. The front from earlier today has moved through the area bringing showers and some clearing in its wake as well as fresh to strong breezes. Seas are expected to remain elevated with 10-15 ft seas diminishing to 7-10 ft overnight. Winds will continue to diminish as well headed into early tomorrow morning before the next front moves up from the south and west during the mid morning. This front is expected to bring gales to most of the outer coast with the exception of places from Cape Fairweather to Cape Suckling which is expected to see storm force winds along the front. Seas are expected to build up to 10-15 ft with potentially 17- 22 ft waves with the strongest winds. Headed into the latter half of the week, onshore flow is expected to continue with fresh to strong breezes with SW swell continuing. Inside (Inner Channels): Winds across the Inner Channels this afternoon vary greatly depending on location. Farther south, winds remain around a gentle breeze while to the north, gales and near gales persist for Lynn Canal. Winds for Lynn Canal are expected to persist through the evening before diminishing during the overnight hours. Elsewhere, the light winds are expected to bring about fog development this evening as high pressure temporarily takes hold ahead of the next front. This fog is expected to develop from Point Cravens and Tracy/Endicott arm southward. Visibilities are expected to be less than 1 NM with patches of fog potentially down to 1/4 NM. The fog is expected to dissipate tomorrow morning and afternoon as winds start to increase ahead of the next front that starts to move closer to the panhandle bringing an increase in winds to the area. Headed into the latter half of the week, winds are expected to remain elevated with fresh to strong breezes while Lynn Canal could see near gales to gales headed into Friday. && .AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...Strong Wind until 1 AM AKDT Wednesday for AKZ318. MARINE...Storm Warning for PKZ644-651-652-671-672. Gale Warning for PKZ012-021-022-642-643-662>664. Small Craft Advisory for PKZ011-013-031-053-641-661. && $$ SHORT TERM...99 LONG TERM...99 Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/Juneau