397
FXAK69 PAFG 241342
AFDAFG

Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Fairbanks AK
542 AM AKDT Fri Apr 24 2026

.SYNOPSIS...
Southerly flow across Northern Alaska is setting up this morning
with temperatures up to 20 degrees warmer than what they were
yesterday morning. Scattered showers are expected through Sunday
across the region. Temperatures will continue to warm as southerly
flow will continue through next week, and our daylight hours
continue to quickly increase. Sunday morning a strong low will
enter the Southern Bering Sea bringing another round of strong
winds and rain/snow showers to the West Coast and Western
Interior. Blowing snow is not anticipated to be a major concern
with this system as temperatures will be in the mid to upper 30s.

&&

.KEY WEATHER MESSAGES...
Central and Eastern Interior...
- Strong gap winds in the Alaska Range are continuing this
  morning. Wind gusts up to 75 mph are possible in Isabel Pass,
  and wind gusts up to 65 mph in Windy Pass. These winds will
  begin to taper off later this afternoon.

- Scattered rain or rain/snow showers will be possible possible
  this morning as a front moves through the region. Accumulations
  will be light with this front.

- A persistent chinook will keep temperatures more seasonable.
  Temperatures will be in the 50s during the day across the
  Interior Valleys. Areas near the Alaska Range could see
  temperatures approach 60.

West Coast and Western Interior...
- Easterly winds along the coast will begin to subside this
  morning as the low in the Bering weakens.

- Southerly flow will bring warmer temperatures to the region for
  the foreseeable future. Temperatures will rise into the 40s in
  the Western Interior while the coastline will see temperatures
  in the mid to upper 30s.

- Scattered rain/snow showers will continue through Saturday
  morning. Saturday night we will turn our attention to the next
  strong low that moves into the southern Bering. This low is
  expected to bring long duration moderate rain or rain/snow
  showers to the region.

- Sunday morning east-southeast winds will pick up as a low moves
  into the region. Winds could gust up to 45 mph from Hooper Bay
  to the Seward Peninsula and St. Lawrence Island.

North Slope and Brooks Range...
- Scattered snow showers are possible on the south slopes of the
  Brooks Range through Saturday afternoon. Snow accumulations
  would be light.

- Winds will begin to increase across the Arctic Coast Saturday
  afternoon with winds up to 25 mph. The Brooks Range Passes could
  see some southerly winds up to 25 mph beginning Saturday morning
  and ending early Sunday.

- Temperatures will continue to rise across the region as
  southerly flow is expected to continue with highs in the 20s/30s
  across the Arctic Coast and Plains to 30s/40s in the Brooks
  Range and overnight lows in the teens/20s.

&&

.FORECAST ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...
The low in the Bering is beginning to move into Eastern Russia and
will weaken as the morning progresses. This will improve the
lingering conditions across the West Coast by midday today. A
very stout ridge axis has developed over Eastern Alaska, this
ridge axis will help to produce our chinook allowing for
temperatures to return to more seasonable. In the Bering Sea
there is general troughing that will help to push a series of
fronts into Northern Alaska through the weekend. The first of many
is making its way across the Alaska Range this morning. This
front will bring chances for rain/snow showers across the Interior
today. In the Interior valleys much of the precipitation will be
very light. The Fairbanks sounding at 3 AM showed a 200 mb dry
layer at the surface. This front would have to overcome that dry
layer to produce notable precipitation, which is very unlikely due
to the ongoing downsloping from the Alaska Range.

Saturday afternoon the next strong low will move into the
Southern Bering. There is great agreement between the ensemble
model suites that the low will roughly be 955 mbs as it moves
towards St. Paul Island. A warm front will be ejected towards the
West Coast Sunday morning bringing another round of strong winds
and rain or rain/snow showers. Easterly onshore winds Sunday
afternoon could create ice pushes on the east side of St.
Lawrence Island. The threat for ice pushes will diminish quickly
Sunday night as the winds shift more northeasterly. This feature
will be much warmer than the system that just went through the
region. With it being warmer we are expecting more widespread rain
across the Y-K Delta and Norton Sound Coastline. There is a very
small chance we could see a brief period of freezing rain from
Kaltag to Huslia on Monday. Most of the precipitation is this
region should be rain/snow or just snow showers, but there still
remains a non- zero chance for freezing rain.

&&

.EXTENDED FORECAST DAYS 4-7...
Looking towards next week the pattern looks to remain stagnant.
The low that will have moved into the Bering Sea will remain there
through the middle of next week. This will keep elevated winds and
precipitation chances for the West Coast and Western Interior
through middle of next week. We could see long duration light to
moderate precipitation with this event due to an atmospheric river
that stretches to around to around 30N. In the Eastern Interior
and North Slope, southerly flow will continue keeping temperatures
either seasonable or above normal.

Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AK...High Wind Warning for AKZ849.
     Wind Advisory for AKZ837.
     Wind Advisory for AKZ847.
PK...Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ801-802-807-817-850-851-853>856.
     Small Craft Advisory for PKZ816.
&&

$$

Dennis