Alaska Extended Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service College Park MD
800 PM EDT Mon Oct 27 2025
Valid 12Z Fri 31 Oct 2025 - 12Z Tue 04 Nov 2025
...Heavy Mountain Snow and Lower-Elevation Rain Expected Late Week
Along Much of the Gulf Coast...
...Synoptic Overview...
A series of upper lows will impact parts of the state beginning
late this week. An upper low over Bristol Bay will merge with
another low south of the Alaska Peninsula on Thursday into Friday.
This low will produce an occluded surface reflection that will
move into the central Gulf Coast and panhandle this weekend. A
shortwave trough will dive down into the Northeast Pacific late
this weekend and reinforce the main low in the Gulf and expand
over the mainland.
...Guidance Evaluation and Preferences...
There's good agreement between the Euro, GFS and Canadian suites
on the 500mb pattern through day 5. Model variance picks up
considerably on day 6, with most of the uncertainty centering
around the weakening upper low over the central Gulf Coast on
Sunday. Models are in reasonably good agreement on a third vort
max diving southeast through the western Aleutians and North
Pacific on Sunday/Monday The Euro suite diverges from the GFS and
Canadian suites on day 8 as it depicts a weaker, nearly zonal,
trough driving south through the Aleutians, while the other models
have a much deeper and less progressive cyclone propagating
through the same region.
A general model blend consisting of the ECMWF, GFS and CMC
were used for days 4 and 5, before the Euro and Canadian ensembles
were introduced for days 6-8.
...Weather/Hazards Highlights...
A very deep occluded surface low (sub 955mb) will bring heavy
mountain snow and strong surface winds to much of the Gulf Coast
Friday through Sunday. Fortunately, the strongest winds will
remain offshore, which is why a high wind hazard wasn't issued on
today's final hazard's product. The precipitation, however will be
significant enough to warrant a heavy precip hazard on our final
issuance. QPF amounts totaling between 4-8 inches are forecast
from the Alaska Peninsula down through the panhandle on Friday.
Precip and winds gradually weaken through the rest of the weaken
while remaining impactful until conditions finally improve early
next week. Temperatures will be mostly around average except for
the Alaska Peninsula where troughing aloft will keep conditions at
the surface cooler than average.
&&
Kebede
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