Alaska Extended Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
629 PM EDT Sat Jun 18 2022
Valid 12Z Wed Jun 22 2022 - 12Z Sun Jun 26 2022
...Overview...
A ridgy pattern will stretch from the Alaska Peninsula into the
northeastern mainland, separating a closed upper low moving from
the Gulf of Alaska into the Alaska Panhandle/British Columbia and
a deep layer cyclone across the Bering Sea/Aleutians. The upper
high is forecast to be shunted southeastward into the southern
mainland as the week progresses as longwave troughing becomes more
established atop the Bering Sea/Aleutians.
...Guidance Evaluation/Predictability Assessment...
The guidance shows reasonable agreement early; a compromise of the
12z GFS, 12z Canadian, 12z UKMET, and 12z ECMWF resolves any small
issues. While the guidance shows some dispersion near the
Aleutians late in the period at 500 hPa and the surface, the GFS,
ECMWF, and Canadian show surprising agreement on the 5 day QPF
covering day 4-8/Wednesday into next Saturday. To deal with the
500 hPa and surface pressure issues, used increasing amounts of
the 00z ECMWF ensemble mean and 12z NAEFS mean with time,
eventually becoming half of the overall blend. The remainder of
the grids are based on a more even blend of deterministic and
ensemble mean guidance, the National Blend of Models.
...Weather and Hazard Highlights...
The Aleutians and western mainland Alaska should be the cloudiest
and rainiest, with a couple inches of rain and gale force expected
in the Aleutians, particularly Wednesday into Friday. Much of
Mainland AK will be under the aegis of mid-level ridging and
partly cloudy skies. Temperatures will become quite warm for
interior southern and southeast AK, with 80s expected. Cooler
conditions will be expected right along the coast, the Aleutians,
and Brooks Range, but won't be particularly chilly when compared
to June standards.
Roth
No significant hazards are expected over Alaska during this
forecast period.
Additional 3-7 Day Hazard Information can be found on the WPC
medium range hazards outlook chart at:
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/threats/threats.php
WPC medium range Alaskan products including 500mb, surface
fronts/pressures progs and sensible weather grids can also be
found at:
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/alaska/ak_5dayfcst500_wbg.gif
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/alaska/akmedr.shtml
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/alaska/ak_5km_gridsbody.html