Alaska Extended Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 501 PM EST Wed Feb 21 2024 Valid 12Z Sun Feb 25 2024 - 12Z Thu Feb 29 2024 ...Unsettled pattern for southern Alaska, with cooling conditions across Mainland Alaska... ...Guidance Evaluation and Preferences... The 12 UTC GFS/ECMWF/UKMET/Canadian model solutions showed reasonable agreement into early next week within a buckling/amplifying flow pattern around the North Pacific as a whole, though detail issues are larger than seen yesterday. A favored composite offers maximum system detail consistent with a pattern with seemingly above normal predictability and reasonable run to run consistency. WPC product continuity is reasonably well maintained. ...Pattern Overview and Weather/Hazards Highlights... A couple of cyclones move through the Gulf of Alaska and the northeast Pacific this period, with the second system expected to be stronger than the first. The southern tier of the state, including the Aleutians, will be wetter/snowier. Both systems should bring gale to storm force winds across the AK Peninsula, particularly in areas of gap flow/areas that usually deal with accelerated winds in northwesterly low-level flow. With high pressure building into northwest Canada and Alaska, colder conditions are expected to spread south and southwest across the Interior into southern AK and the AK Panhandle, with increasingly large areas of real estate dropping below 0F, if not -20F, for overnight lows with time. Normally colder eastern interior locations could flirt with -40F readings for overnight lows. The trends today were to delay the cooling for southwest AK and trend somewhat northerly with the second, stronger cyclone with an associated northerly shift in chances of precipitation and QPF. For wetter southern areas, rain should slowly transition to snow as the colder air filters in. Roth 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