Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
147 FXAK67 PAJK 241508 AFDAJK Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Juneau AK 608 AM AKST Mon Nov 24 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Key Messages: - Active pattern continues through Monday with rain/snow mix for most areas. - Winter weather advisory out for Haines for 4 to 6 inches of snow through Monday evening. - Offshore flow is looking more likely for the middle of next week bringing colder temperatures and clearing skies to most of the panhandle. && .SHORT TERM... A weakening low in the gulf will continue to stream showers across southeast Alaska to start the week. A majority of the outer coast remains warm enough with the onshore flow to just see rain, however the northeast coast up to around Yakutat has seen snow showers at sea level with the airport there reporting visibilities dropping to around 1 mile at times. With the position of the low and winds expected to maintain a more northerly component there, these showers continuing through the day are expected to bring some minor snow accumulations up to 2 inches to the area. Higher snow amounts cannot be ruled out though if showers begin to train over the area more frequently. This possibility will be watched closely through the morning and afternoon hours Monday. Elsewhere, a winter weather advisory remains in effect for the Haines area as snow has been falling continuously since around midnight, with visibilities at the airport dropping as low as 1/4 mile with moderate to heavy snow. The heaviest snow rates are expected through the morning hours before gradually diminishing through the afternoon and evening hours. With developing high pressure over the interior, Skagway has stayed slightly warmer and drier due to downsloping from northerly winds of 15 to 20 kt. These winds are expected to continue, likely limiting snow accumulation at the surface. For the Icy Strait corridor, some snow mixing in at sea level is possible with little to no accumulation expected through the day. Overall a wet and cool start to the week. For more on what to expect for the upcoming holiday, see the long term discussion. .LONG TERM... For the start of the long term, conditions continue to remain unsettled. Ensemble guidance is still having a hard time nailing down specific details as well as deterministic for the start of the long term. Right now, forecast guidance looks to be split into two camps with the deterministic and ensemble guidance for the Euro and Canadian coming together for a more consistent solution. The other camp is the GFS and GEFS. The Euro/Canadian solution looks to bring a low farther north and closer to the panhandle which would increase the chances of seeing rain and snow showers. The GFS solution looks to keep the low farther to the south and would favor more of a dry outflow situation. Headed into Wednesday, it looks like we dry out as high pressure in Canada becomes the dominant pattern for SE AK. There are still some disagreements between models on this solution so details could change regarding exactly what locations dry out. By the time we get to Thursday, models look to come into more agreement that outflow will be the dominant weather for the panhandle as high pressure over the Yukon and British Columbia firmly establishes control. This will allow for temperatures to cool in locations that are not usually windy during outflow events while places like Cross Sound, Lynn Canal, Taku Inlet, and the Stikine River Delta look to see winds increase. Our attention then turns to a low pressure over the Alaska Peninsula for our next potential weather maker. This system is expected to stay west of the area but could tap into moisture from the south bringing in a significant amount of moisture to the area. Depending on the location that this low sets up around, conditions across the panhandle could range from remaining dry due to high pressure, potentially a significant rain/snow event, or just a significant rain event if the system is far enough to the east to mix out the cold air near the surface and bring mostly just rain. With the disagreement and uncertainty in the models, this will need to be monitored throughout the week for updates and changes. && .AVIATION.../through 12z Tuesday/ Mixed bag of flight conditions ranging from VFR to IFR for the SEAK panhandle this morning as a low in the northern Gulf continues to gradually weaken, keeping on-shore persistent precipitation across the area. For the northern panhandle, worst flight conditions overnight have been near Yakutat and Haines, with intermittent snow showers dropping visbys at last as 1/4SM at times. For the southern panhandle, general low-end VFR flight conditions overnight with CIGS AoA 3500ft, outside of Ketchikan which has seen persistent CIGS around 500 to 1000ft. By Monday afternoon, expecting general MVFR to VFR flight conditions to prevail with intermittent reductions in visbys down to IFR/LIFR within showers. Worst flight conditions should remain near Haines as snow showers are expected to continue with CIGS AoB 1500ft and visbys as low as 1/2SM within the heaviest snow showers. Winds should remain around 10kts or less through the afternoon, but can`t rule out isolated gusts up to 20kts. No significant LLWS or icing concerns through the TAF period. && .MARINE... Outside: Lingering low pressure in the central gulf is still producing near 20 kt winds out of the East for the northern gulf and 15 to 20 kt southwesterly winds for the southern gulf . These winds are expected to gradually diminish and become mostly Southerly by Monday afternoon as the gulf low diminishes away. As a new low moves south of the area on Monday night into Tuesday, gulf winds will continue to shift to SE and then E by Tuesday and will start increasing to near 25 kt in the eastern gulf by Tuesday. Seas mainly dominated by SW swell of around 6 to 7 ft (with a period of 12 to 14 sec) at the moment with wind wave on top of that giving combined seas of 9 to 12 ft. Seas are expected to gradually diminish down to 6 to 7 ft through Monday night as the SW swell subsides. However, Seas will start building again late Monday night into Tuesday as the increasing SE winds begin to build waves from a southerly direction, especially Tuesday where seas could reach 10 to 12 ft across a large area of the gulf. Inside: Wind directions are mainly out of the SE and E through the inner channels this Monday morning. The exception to that is North/south channels north of Icy Strait which are have continued to flow out of the north through the night. These northerly winds are expected to diminish and switch to a southerly direction mid day Monday. Winds across the inner channels are then expected to stay light into Monday night before a general switch to a more northerly direction is forecast for Tuesday as a storm system moves south of the area. Seas are primarily wind driven waves up to 3 to 4 ft and will generally stay that height or less through Tuesday. Higher seas near ocean entrances tonight into early Monday as SW swell up to 6 ft in the gulf gradually diminishes into Monday night. && .AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM AKST this evening for AKZ319. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory for PKZ641-661-662. && $$ SHORT TERM...STJ LONG TERM...SF AVIATION...NM MARINE...STJ Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/Juneau