127
FXAK67 PAJK 270035
AFDAJK

Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Juneau AK
335 PM AKST Wed Nov 26 2025

.SYNOPSIS...

Key Messages:

-Cold outflow winds persist through Thursday

-Drier weather for most of the panhandle through the end of the
 week with the exception of the northern Gulf (Yakutat).

-Another system arrives in the panhandle Sunday.


&&

.SHORT TERM...

A quiet weather pattern across most of the panhandle through
Friday, with drier weather across most of the area (with the
exception of Yakutat), cooler temperatures, and at times clearer
skies.

The active upper level steering flow has temporarily broken down, as
the eastern flank of the longwave trough which had been directing
systems into the panhandle has largely disintegrated. This has
enabled cold air outflow winds to establish themselves across SE AK,
as high pressure builds over Canada. While the cold air outflow
winds aren`t all that strong in most locations, they will contribute
to cooler temperatures and greater breaks in the clouds over the
next few days.

Consequently, Thanksgiving Day looks to be largely dry for much of
the area. The one likely exception is Yakutat, as a low which has
been redirected off to the W sends a warm front moving into the
northern gulf coast beginning late on Thursday and lasting
through Friday. While the chance of some PoPs from this front
reaching as far as Elfin Cove and Pelican on Thursday night can`t
be ruled out, think that these chances are on the low side, as dry
air from the cold air outflow will likely erode precip bands more
aggressively than is currently portrayed by operational guidance.

Cold air outflow weakens on Friday as a ridge builds over the
eastern Gulf. Drier weather is likely to remain for most locations
until Sunday, when the ridge is displaced east by an advancing
system. For additional details, see the long term discussion.

.LONG TERM...Weak shortwave will move across the Gulf, bringing a
gale force front over the NE Gulf and along parts of the panhandle
into Friday. Steeper 500 mb ridging over the Gulf will prevent the
waves moving through Friday into Saturday from reaching as far
into the panhandle, rather funneling most of the precipitation up
into the northern Gulf coastline from Yakutat westward. Largely
slight chance to chance of precipitation moving further east into
the rest of the panhandle, with decreasing PoPs into Saturday
morning as the associated low weakens further and moves
northwestward, before dissipating ahead of the next stronger
system approaching. This first system Friday will largely begin to
break down the outflow and bring in warmer temperatures in the
panhandle, with high temperatures between the high 30s to low 40s
expected Friday after the warm front moves through and brings in
warmer air from the south. The cooler air mass lingering into
Friday near the surface and the lower snow levels across the
panhandle will allow still some snow in the early morning Friday
and Friday night with some mixing mid day, but by the next more
impactful system it appears like the outflow pattern will be
disrupted already.

Largely the forecast remains the same for the Sunday system moving
into Monday, with some questions still remaining on how quickly
the warm air will begin to advect into the panhandle and begin to
warm the surface on Sunday. This next system will bring another
front across the panhandle Sunday, along with more warmer air from
the south, bringing maximum temperatures at the surface up to the
40s across the panhandle into Monday. Not many changes were made
to the QPF amounts expected for this stronger system, with up to 2
inches in 24 hours expected along the NE Gulf coast with the
heaviest rates of between 0.4 and 0.6 inches in 6 hours expected
Sunday evening into Sunday night. The rest of the panhandle is
expected to see between 0.5 and 1.5 inches of QPF, with the only
snow accumulation being for the highways as snow levels rapidly
rise and temperatures increase into the mid 40s elsewhere during
the day. The Haines Highway near the border is expected to see
less than an inch in 24 hours, while the Klondike Highway is
expected to see between 3 and 5 inches of snowfall during the
Sunday system, with the snow becoming wetter and more dense Sunday
night into Monday morning as snow levels continue to rise above
3000 ft. While the warmer temperatures are moving into the
panhandle during the day, the colder and drier airmass in place
overnight will still allow for some chances of snow mixing in
Sunday morning, before the majority of the panhandle aside from
the higher elevation locations will transition to rain by around
late morning to midday. No accumulation is expected even with the
snow mixing in during the morning hours, however.


&&

.AVIATION...No big changes from this morning`s 18z TAF update. Still
expecting VFR conditions for most of the panhandle tonight with the
entire panhandle seeing VFR tomorrow. The exception is the far
southern panhandle, where calm winds have kept low clouds in place
longer than expected.

North panhandle TAF sites: Icy Strait corridor and northward, VFR
conditions will continue. For the most part, winds will be light
over land areas. The exception is Haines and Skagway where northerly
winds will remain around 15 kts with gusts to 25 kts. And areas
prone to gap winds will continue the localized higher wind speeds,
like out of Taku Inlet and near Point Couverden.

South panhandle TAF sites: The area from Sitka to Petersburg to
Wrangell is reporting VFR. These conditions will continue into
tomorrow. Farther south, near Ketchikan to Metlakatla to southern
Prince of Wales island, is reporting low clouds down to near 1000
feet. These conditions will improve from west to east over the next
few hours. Once the clouds improve to VFR, expecting VFR to last
into tomorrow.

&&

.MARINE...

OUTSIDE WATERS: Waveheights of 6-10 feet remain through Wednesday
night, as outflow winds continue to funnel out of the inner channels
and into the Gulf. Winds broadly remain between moderate to fresh
breeze, though some favored outflow channels could see windier
conditions. Thursday will see winds strengthen over the northern
and central gulf waters as strong breeze to near gale winds
develop as a front moves through. Waveheights will also increase
Thursday, rising to 10-14 ft for the northern gulf and central
gulf, and 6-8 ft for more outer coastal waters closer to the
shoreline south of Cape Spencer.



INSIDE WATERS: A weak cold air outflow event remains underway
through Thursday, with Northerly winds of 15-20 kt for many of
the inner channels, while more outflow impacted areas like Point
Couverden and Taku Inlet see 25-30 kt, and seas of 3-5 feet. By
Thursday night, outflow winds will be weakening as the pressure
gradient becomes more parallel to the panhandle, with winds
dropping to 10 - 15 kt, potentially less in some locations, for
the inner channels.


&&

.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...None.
MARINE...Gale Warning for PKZ652.
     Small Craft Advisory for PKZ641>644-651-661>664-671-672.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...GFS
LONG TERM...Contino
AVIATION...GJS
MARINE...GFS

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