Alaska Extended Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
758 PM EDT Thu Oct 3 2024
Valid 12Z Mon Oct 7 2024 - 12Z Fri Oct 11 2024
***Heavy rain and mountain snow expected for the south coastal
areas for the beginning of the week, and strong winds over the
Gulf waters***
...Overview and Guidance Evaluation/Preferences...
The powerful extra-tropical low associated with former typhoon
Jebi will likely be over the northern Gulf of Alaska by the
beginning of the forecast period Monday, after hammering the
Aleutians and western portions of the mainland over the upcoming
weekend. It is forecast to weaken by Monday with central pressure
rising to about 980-990 mb, and then weakening further going into
Tuesday and beyond. A secondary low may develop east of the
primary low and track in the general direction of the southeast
Panhandle on Tuesday, and then likely a break in the bad weather
for Wednesday into Thursday. There may be additional trouble on
the distant horizon as another potentially strong storm system
develops south of the Aleutians by the end of next week.
The 12Z model guidance suite has a decent overall depiction across
the Alaska domain to begin the work week, although the ECMWF is
stronger with the potential triple point low that heads towards
the Alaska Panhandle region. The CMC strays from the consensus
for the middle of the week with an organized low pressure system
that is not reflected in the GFS or ECMWF guidance, but it does
agree better with the stronger low near the Aleutians by Friday.
Ensemble means were gradually increased to about 40-50% by the
Thursday/Friday time period.
...Weather/Hazards Highlights...
Gale to storm force winds and extremely rough seas are expected
over the open waters of the Gulf of Alaska to begin the week, with
strong winds likely across the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island,
with gap wind enhancement. Heavy rainfall (and snow in the higher
terrain) is expected from the Alaska Peninsula all the way to the
southeast Panhandle, with a potential atmospheric river event to
the east of the main surface low that could produce several inches
of QPF during the Monday-Wednesday time period. Depending on the
evolution of the next storm over the Gulf late in the period,
heavy precipitation could make a return next Friday for some of
those same areas. In terms of temperatures, cooler than normal
highs are likely over southern parts of Alaska owing to increased
cloud cover and precipitation, and warmer than normal temperatures
are likely for the northern two-thirds of the mainland for the
upcoming week.
Hamrick
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