Alaska Extended Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
758 PM EDT Tue Jun 27 2023
Valid 12Z Sat Jul 1 2023 - 12Z Wed Jul 5 2023
...Synoptic Overview and Sensible Weather...
A strong upper low just south of the eastern Aleutians Saturday
morning is forecast to lift northward across the Alaska Peninsula
and then Bristol Bay by Monday. A second upper low is expected to
develop over the western Bering around this time and then pivot
around the decaying upper low near southwestern Alaska. East of
the big upper trough will be a downstream ridge axis extending
across eastern mainland Alaska into the Yukon Territory. Much of
the eastern Gulf region should also be under an upper ridge axis.
The storm system lifting north across the Alaska Peninsula Sunday
into early Monday is expected to produce heavy rain across the
windward terrain from Kodiak Island to the Kenai Peninsula and
portions of the Chugach Mountains, and then improving conditions
going into Tuesday. Temperatures are expected to be mild across
much of the Interior, with highs reaching well into the 70s and
even some lower 80s possible across the Yukon Flats. Readings in
the 50s and 60s are expected for the North Slope, and upper 40s
near the Arctic Coast.
...Guidance Evaluation/Preferences...
The 12Z model guidance suite, along with the 18Z GFS, are in good
overall agreement on most synoptic scale features for the upcoming
weekend, so a general model blend suffices as a starting point in
the forecast process. Going forward into early next week, the
ECMWF was the deterministic model closest to the GEFS/ECENS and
thus was weighted slightly more than the CMC and GFS for Monday.
By the middle of next week, the CMC was too weak with the second
low pressure system south of the Aleutians and does not have much
ensemble support, so it was not used by the end of the forecast
period, and the use of the ensemble means increased to 60% by next
Wednesday.
Hamrick
Hazards:
- Heavy rain across portions of west-central mainland Alaska, Fri,
Jun 30.
- Heavy rain across portions of the Alaska Peninsula and the Kenai
Peninsula, Sun-Mon, Jul 2-Jul 3.
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