Alaska Extended Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
444 PM EDT Fri Nov 04 2022
Valid 12Z Tue Nov 08 2022 - 12Z Sat Nov 12 2022
...Synoptic Scale Overview...
Cold offshore flow continues across the AK Panhandle this period.
Overall, ridging across southeast AK and western Canada should
waver in intensity this period while storminess impacts the
southern and western extremities of AK.
...Guidance/Predictability Assessment and Preferences...
Overall, the model guidance shows fairly good agreement through
the period, with some spread lingering early to mid next week
across the Aleutians with a cyclone moving nearby, likely south of
the archipelago early to mid next week and the general persistence
of the mid to upper level ridging over AK. The 12z Canadian and
to some degree the ECMWF struggle run-to-run and day-to-day in
determining whether or not this cyclone/its upper low phases with
a trough to its north, which continues to alter the latitude of
its trajectory/whether or not it crosses the Aleutians into the
Bering Sea. Normally, unphased/separated flow is best, so
weighted the 12z Canadian and 12z ECMWF minimally across Siberia
and western mainland AK. A compromise of the 12z GFS, 12z ECMWF,
12z Canadian, and 12z UKMET sufficed Monday night before early on
before minimizing the 12z Canadian. Split the blend half
deterministic and half ensemble mean late in the period, as usual,
for the pressures, 500 hPa heights, and winds. For QPF, used a
compromise of the 19z NBM 12z GFS, and 12z ECMWF ensemble mean
guidance to account for uncertainty. The remainder of the grids
relied heavily on the 19z NBM.
...Sensible Weather and Potential Hazards...,
Much of Alaska will be cold and dry as an Arctic high pressure
migrates south and east across western Canada. Strong gap flows
across the AK Panhandle continue to be a concern through early
next week. Over the Southeast Alaska Panhandle, much below Normal
temperatures are expected through midweek as the frigid Arctic air
infiltrates from the east with anomalously cold high temperatures
into the 20s Fahrenheit and subzero Fahrenheit lows lasting for
multiple days in a row. Otherwise, expect the bulk of the heavy
precipitation chances to be confined to the Northernmost
Aleutians, Alaska Panhandle, southwest Alaska, and the Kenai
Peninsula through Tuesday as a cyclone migrates through the Gulf
of Alaska. Additional high wind concerns remain to the north over
Bristol Bay and into the Bering Sea Monday as a pair of occluding
surface lows support strong periods of strong winds upwards of 60
mph, sometimes favorably oriented toward the coast to lead to
coastal flooding concerns. High winds are also expected to lead to
blizzard conditions and coastal flooding across western Alaska
northward to the Bering Strait on Monday.
Roth/Snell
- Heavy precipitation across portions of mainland Alaska, Mon-Tue,
Nov 7-Nov 8.
- High winds across portions of the Alaska Panhandle and western
mainland Alaska, Mon, Nov 7.
- Much below normal temperatures across portions of the Alaska
Panhandle, Mon-Wed, Nov 7-Nov 9.
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