textproduct: Anchorage

SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3)

A front bringing a mix of rain/snow over Southcentral this afternoon is ongoing, however is expected to be fairly transient with the front departing later this evening. A quick dissipation will lead to an end of precipitation across even Southcentral mountains tonight. Following the front, cloud cover is expected to remain over much of Southcentral, indicating mild overnight temperatures, potentially only dropping to near- freezing. Saturday will see mostly drier conditions through the morning and early afternoon ahead of a second trough. Areas of fog may build along the banks of Cook Inlet tonight, potentially intruding on communities such as Kenai and Anchorage, however will be fairly short-lived. Kodiak Island and Western Susitna will be the first locations to see precipitation late Saturday afternoon. As the upper trough progresses, it develops a surface low in the northern Gulf that will bring more widespread precipitation to Mainland Southcentral from Saturday evening into early Sunday morning. Conditions are expected to be slightly cooler, meaning higher chances for light snow Saturday evening into the overnight hours.

Precipitation over much of Southcentral into Sunday morning will hold on through the rest of the weekend. The type of precipitation in question will be largely snowfall in the early morning, with accumulations of new snow of 1 to 2 inches in Anchorage. By the late morning and early afternoon, the precipitation type is expected to shift to a rain/snow mix, leading to lower further accumulations. By late Sunday afternoon and evening, precipitation type may transition back to all snowfall, however precipitation intensity will diminish as the upper support breaks down.

-CL