textproduct: Anchorage

SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3)

Overnight lows dipped into the upper teens to lower 20s across most of Southcentral with clearing skies and light winds. This is ten degrees cooler than yesterday morning's lows. Coastal areas of Prince William Sound and southern Kenai Peninsula were the warmest remaining in the upper 30s to lower 40s because of persistent cloud cover resulting in a rise of a few degrees from yesterday morning's low temperature. The main weather features into the weekend will be the slowly dissipating low in the Gulf of Alaska, the influx of cooler air from the Interior and a mid-weekend low off the eastern coast of Kodiak Island.

This afternoon into tomorrow evening, a low moves northward along the Prince William Sound and Eastern Kenai Peninsula bringing coastal rain showers and inland snow. Snowfall accumulations ranging from a trace to 2 inches are expected for the Copper River Basin from this evening through late tomorrow morning during the heaviest time of precipitation. Snow showers linger into the afternoon. Additionally, low will bring coastal showers and gale to storm force winds along the near-shore waters of the northern Gulf. A ridge quickly builds into the area tomorrow afternoon enhancing northerly flow through the area causing temperatures to drop into the lower teens by Sunday morning. Highs on Sunday rebound into the lower 20s. This cooler air moves into the Mat-Su Valleys, Anchorage Bowl and Kenai Peninsula this weekend with highs in the upper 20s/lower 30s and lows in the upper teens/lower 20s.

As the low slowly dissipates, continued confidence in a weak surface low forming near Kodiak Island tomorrow afternoon brings increased winds to the Barren Islands and offshore areas of Kodiak Island and southern Kenai Peninsula. A second low begins to move into the Southern Gulf of Alaska late Sunday evening bringing gale to storm force winds along the coast of Prince William Sound.

AVIATION

PANC...VFR conditions and light northerly winds are expected to continue through the TAF period. There is a low chance (10 to 20 percent) of fog in the morning as clear skies lead to strong radiational cooling and development of steam fog over the inlet. Any fog that does develop this morning is expected to dissipate by late morning to early afternoon as dewpoint depressions widen by then.