


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
Issued by NWS Juneau, AK
526 FXAK67 PAJK 182001 AFDAJK Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Juneau AK 938 AM AKDT Mon Aug 18 2025 .UPDATE...Aviation update to discuss the fog. && .SHORT TERM...Satellite and radar imagery depict 3 separate weather regimes across SE AK this Monday morning. From the Icy Strait Corridor northward, the remnants of a decaying cold front continues to bring rain across the the area. In the central panhandle, rain has departed and clearing skies are setting the stage for a warmer day ahead, with the fog that formed in some locations departing once temperatures begin to rise later in the morning. In the southern panhandle, cloud cover has started to rebuild ahead of a weak low that will move over the southern half of the area on Tuesday. Aloft, an upper level trough moved south through the day on Sunday, dragging its associated surface reflection (low) southward and away from the panhandle. This has resulted the low`s frontal band, stalled over the northern half of the panhandle, being cut off from any additional support. Through the day on Monday, it will also leave room for high pressure to build over the NE Gulf of AK. The end result will be continued drier weather for the central panhandle through the day on Monday, and rain over the northern half of the panhandle diminishing in coverage through the latter half of Monday. By late Monday night, anticipate that the front will have disintegrated entirely, and dry weather will be in store for all of the northern and central panhandle - except for Yakutat, where onshore flow will continue bringing chances of rain. The southern panhandle will be a mix of both worlds. While chances of rain remain on the lower side through the first half of Monday, rain showers slowly begin to become more numerous through the latter half of Monday as the low which had previously swung south begins to slowly move back up NE. By Tuesday, expect higher chances of rain to have fully returned to areas from Prince of Wales Island and Revillagigedo Island on southward. Rain will manage to reach as far north as Wrangell and potentially Petersburg through the latter half of Tuesday. For additional information, see the long term discussion. Winds will broadly remain on the lower side, with the inner channels seeing winds of 5 to 10 kt through the day on Monday, although Tuesday will see winds of 10 to 15 kt possible as the low sends a weak band northward. High temperatures will largely stay in the 60s, and low temperatures in the 50s, but lower temperatures in the 40s and 50s Monday night will herald the potential for widespread fog formation for areas which have seen some degree of clearing skies. .LONG TERM.../Into next weekend/... Overall drying trend late this week with warmer temps likely for the later half of the week. Key Messages: -Lingering low pressure passing to the south will give some rain and rain shower chances mid-week. 24 hour rain amounts will be light. -A building ridge of high pressure afterwards will bring drier weather and warmer temps for the later part of the week into next weekend. -Marine wind speeds look to be on the lighter side next week at around 5 to 10 knots with some isolated trouble spots getting up to 15 knots due to afternoon sea breeze enhancement. Discussion: A passing area of low pressure will keep at least some rain chances over the panhandle mid-week. Greatest PoPS are in the south with lower PoPS in the central and northern panhandle. Rain amounts look to be light due to the spotty nature of the showers. After the lingering low finally moves on and out of the area mid- week, a potential ridge of high pressure looks to move in. This would bring decreasing rain chances and decreasing cloud cover. So sunnier skies are looking likely later next week. With sunnier skies comes warmer temps, with highs warming to the upper 60s to the near 70 for Thursday into next weekend. && .AVIATION...Moisture streaming in from the north is keeping rain and lowered flying conditions in place for those along and north of Icy Strait. South of this area has been a mixed bag of either VFR conditions, or fog and very low clouds causing LIFR conditions. Looking ahead to Monday afternoon, improvements will continue as moisture from the north runs out of juice. Conditions will improve from south to north. So the Icy Strait corridor has started to see improvements this morning. Further north at Skagway and Haines, it will take through the afternoon for conditions to improve to VFR. The northeast gulf coast up through Yakutat will hold onto predominantly MVFR conditions throughout the day, with occasional improvements to low-end VFR possible as CIGS stay just above 3000 ft. For the central and southern panhandle, conditions will largely stay VFR throughout the rest of today. The fog that was near Frederick Sound, Kake, and Petersburg has see big improvements late this morning. Will keep seeing CIGS and VIS at VFR conditions throughout the day for everywhere else in the southern panhandle, before precipitation moves up later into the Metlakatla and Ketchikan areas. This will bring some lowered flying conditions to high-end MVFR tonight as the rain moves in around 08Z on Tuesday. Overall winds should remain 10 kt or less throughout the day, with no LLWS concerns expected. && .MARINE... Inside Waters: Winds remain on the lower side Monday, with light to moderate breezes through the daytime and overnight hours with winds reaching a maximum of 10 kt in most channels, though parts of Chatham Strait by Point Gardner could approach 15 kt during the day. Some sea breezes may be possible in the afternoon. Seas will be 2 ft or less, with the exception of ocean entrances, where seas could be higher. Outer Waters: Seas continue to subside, with wave heights of 3 to 6 feet in the morning (with the highest wave heights in the southern outer coastal waters), subsiding to 2 to 4 feet by Tuesday. Winds will remain between 5 kt to 15 kt, with variable wind directions through the first half of Monday giving way to NW winds for the areas S of Cross Sound, and broadly southerly flow for the northern Gulf, though areas near the northern GUlf shoreline may veer towards SE or SW. Currently wave period is ~8 seconds for the southern outer coastal waters and ~14 seconds for the northern outer coastal waters with W Swell of 2 ft or less. && .AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...Dense Fog Advisory until 10 AM AKDT this morning for AKZ326- 327. MARINE...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...GFS LONG TERM...Ferrin AVIATION...GJS MARINE...GFS Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/Juneau