Alaska Extended Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 404 PM EST Mon Jan 06 2020 Valid 12Z Fri Jan 10 2020 - 12Z Tue Jan 14 2020 ...Weather/Hazards Highlights... A building upper ridge over the North Slope and much of the Interior will partially ease the current cold snap, with lingering much below normal air held over the eastern Interior/Southeast with post-frontal high pressure spread in from Canada. Underneath, eastern Gulf of Alaska low development Friday has trended deeper and more locally unsettled over the past few days and that seems reasonable considering upper trough/low support in amplified flow to the lee of the Interior upper ridge. A main weather threat upstream will be from the Aleutians to the Bering Sea as a major low with a substantial hazard of high winds/waves and heavy precipitation tracks into the region Friday-Sunday. Lead weather will also work with some vigor into the western and southwestern mainland for the weekend. Flow energies will also work downstream to an unsettled northern Gulf of Alaska into next week, but offers more modest effects for maritime interests and onshore to the southern Alaskan tier. ...Guidance/Predictability Assessment... The 12 UTC GFS/ECMWF and GEFS/NAEFS/ECMWF ensembles remain better clustered than normal through the weekend, bolstering forecast confidence. Prefer a composite blend along with the 19 UTC National Blend of Models to maintain good WPC continuity. Opted for a blend of these still compatable ensemble means days 7/8 in a period of quickly growing forecast spread. Manual adjustments were applied to depict deeper Aleutian/Bering Sea low developments that offer an increased maritime and coastal threat considering favorable support aloft. Schichtel Additional 3-7 Day Hazard information can be found on the WPC medium range hazards chart at: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/threats/threats.php Hazards: - Much below normal temperatures across portions of the Alaska Panhandle and mainland Alaska, Thu-Mon, Jan 9-Jan 13. 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