textproduct: Anchorage

LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7/Monday through Thursday)

Starting early next week, there will be an upper level trough over mainland Alaska and the Gulf of Alaska/Kodiak Island, with a ridge upstream over the Bering Sea/Aleutians. This will be the tail end of wet and windy weather across much of southern AK and bordering coastal waters, with showers and clouds lingering across much of the region. As we continue through the week, the high amplitude trough will exit eastward to Canada, leaving a weak flow regime with weak embedded features. The subtropical jetstream over the North Pacific will also weaken through the week, with a noted absence of strong storm systems. Thus, the pattern looks very "summer- like", with daily afternoon/evening showers and thunderstorms over southern AK driven by surface heating and resulting instability and generally light winds across much of the Aleutian, Gulf and southern AK coastal waters. While the week will start out cloudy, expect increasing sunshine and warming temperatures through the week. High pressure will remain centered across the southern Bering and Aleutians, so widespread low clouds and fog will be common.

-SEB

AVIATION

PANC...VFR conditions are expected through Saturday. A southeasterly Turnagain Arm wind is expected to clip West Anchorage and the terminal by late afternoon or early evening. Wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph are possible this evening before the pressure gradient shifts and the Turnagain Arm bends away from the terminal and down Cook Inlet, likely between 1 AM and 3 AM. LLWS will be possible early Saturday morning as the surface winds become northerly while winds aloft remain southeasterly. The southeasterly winds off Turnagain Arm are expected to move back over the terminal Saturday afternoon.