Alaska Extended Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
657 PM EDT Fri Oct 14 2022
Valid 12Z Tue Oct 18 2022 - 12Z Sat Oct 22 2022
...Major storms offer a heavy precipitation and high wind/wave
maritime threat with impact from the Aleutians through
South-central/Southeast Alaska next week...
...Overview and Guidance/Predictability Assessment and
Weather/Hazards Highlights...
The 12 UTC GFS/ECMWF/UKMET/Canadian model solutions seem well
clustered Tuesday into Wednesday and are well supported by
ensembles, bolstering forecast confidence. In this period,
lingering low energies into this period will keep the eastern
Bering Sea and Western/Southwestern Alaska into the Interior
unsettled with some periods of wintry precipitation and some gusty
winds.
The big story to highlight is that this guidance now more
uniformly develops and tracks a major/deep low with central
pressure dropping near 950mb into the Gulf of Alaska
Tuesday/Wednesday in what is proving to be quite an astounding
series of storms so far in October in a highly energetic pattern.
Forecast spread/uncertainty has significantly decreased with this
potent storm, albeit still with an uncertain connection to current
Tropical Storm Twentyone and more directly with JTWC invest area
91W over the west Pacific. The GFS/GEFS that were much slower to
lift the storm into the Gulf of Alaska have now trending strongly
more in line with recent runs of the ECMWF/UKMET/Canadian and
ECMWF ensembles. The resultant composite depiction of a dangerous
system track offers a significant renewed threat of stormy
seas/winds, heavy rain/runoff issues and elevation snowfall
threats into South-central and Southeast Alaska Tuesday/Wednesday
given long fetch moisture connection and ample upper low/trough
support.
Meanwhile, there is also a growing guidance signal for yet another
major/large low to flourish and bring widespread high winds/waves
across the Bering Sea through the Aleutians into the north Pacific
along with wrapping heavy rains in a broader mean circulation
Tuesday into next Saturday. The details and embedded low
interactions with flow is less certain, lending preference from a
composite blend of the 12 UTC GFS/ECMWF increasingly over time
toward the more compatible and run to run consistent 12 UTC
GEFS/ECMWF ensemble means. This overall system would also then
threaten much of West/Southwest Alaska and underneath through a
stormy AKpen/Kodiak Island into the Gulf of Alaska and inland with
wrapping inflow into South-central then Southeast Alaska Wednesday
into next Friday/Saturday with downstream potent energy transition
and system progression.
Schichtel
Hazards:
- Heavy precipitation across portions of the Alaska Panhandle and
mainland Alaska, Mon-Fri, Oct 17-Oct 21.
- High winds across portions of the Alaska Panhandle, mainland
Alaska, and the Aleutians, Tue-Wed, Oct 18-Oct 19.
- High significant wave heights for coastal portions of northern
mainland Alaska, Mon, Oct 17.
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