textproduct: Fairbanks

SYNOPSIS

Cold temperatures continue across the area, with the only area of accumulating snowfall being from Tok southeast along the Alaska Highway. Expect 2 to 5 inches there through Sunday night, then an additional 1 to 3 inches late Monday. Elsewhere, temperatures remain cold under mostly clear skies. A series of weak frontal systems will be clouds, warmer temperatures, and light snow to the Arctic Coast and West Coast on Sunday and Monday. Light snow, clouds, and flurries drifting northwest will bring a warm up to the Central Interior late on Monday.

KEY WEATHER MESSAGES

Central and Eastern Interior... - Cold temperatures continue across the region with temperatures in the -20s to -40s across much of the area. Cold conditions continue through next week with brief warmups possible as cloud cover moves through the region.

- A Dense Fog Advisory has been issued for the Fairbanks area due to visibility of one quarter mile or less in ice fog. Ice fog is expected to persist in the area through Monday afternoon before cloud cover brings in warmer temperatures.

- Light snow expected in the Upper Tanana Valley through Monday. 3 to 6 inches of total snow expected. This snow will be very fine and will not accumulate efficiently. - Northeast winds through Monday with gusts 20-25 mph along Interior Summits including the White Mountains and the Dalton, Elliott, and Steese Highway Summits. Valley winds will remain mostly calm.

- North winds through Alaska Range Passes increase Saturday with gusts up to 40 mph persisting through Monday morning. Periods of blowing and drifting snow are possible with these winds. Caution should be taken when traveling through the passes.

- Light snow or flurries, along with clouds, are possible across the Central Interior including Fairbanks on Tuesday as remnants of the front over the SE Interior drift west. This would likely bring temperatures up into the teens and 20s below zero.

West Coast and Western Interior... - Colder temperatures continue Saturday. Coastal low temperatures between 0 and -20 with lows between -20 and -45 for the Western Interior. Temperatures warm briefly Sunday through Tuesday.

- A series of weak frontal systems will bring light snow north of the Seward Peninsula. The first will be Sunday and the second on Monday. Accumulations will be very light; generally an inch or less for each front. Warmer air follows with temperatures rising above 0 for most of the West Coast and into the 20s above for St. Lawrence Island.

North Slope and Brooks Range... - Colder temperatures expected through the weekend with lows in the -20s to -40s across the entire North Slope.

- A series of weak frontal systems will bring light snow from Point Hope to Deadhorse. The first will be Sunday and the second on Monday. Accumulations will be very light; generally an inch or less for each front. Warmer air follows bringing temperatures into the single digits above and below 0 Monday and Tuesday.

FORECAST ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

An upper trough continues to dig southwest across the Mainland. This feature is anchored by a very cold 509 dam 500 mb low near Inuvik. To the west, a ridge of high pressure aloft is building northward, centered just southwest of St. Matthew Island. Southeast of the trough, a moisture laden frontal system is bring copious amounts of precipitation to southeast Alaska, with a little bit of that moisture clipping the Alaska Highway east of Tok where it is falling as snow. This pattern will slowly amplify through Monday before a shortwave trough looks to move west from eastern Russia over the top of the ridge, bringing light snow to the North Slope. Some clouds and moisture will also drift northwest from the frontal system, bringing some clouds to the central Interior and possibly flurries by late Monday. A second shortwave trough will move to the West Coast Tuesday, bringing light snow West of Galena.

At the surface, high pressure persists over the northern Yukon Territory, spreading west over Interior Alaska. A strong pressure gradient has developed across the Alaska Range and will persist through the next few days with continued northerly gap winds through Alaska Range Passes.

EXTENDED FORECAST DAYS 4-7...Wednesday through Saturday

A frontal system arriving at the West Coast Tuesday will push into the Interior on Wednesday, bringing light snow. General troughing with very low heights looks to prevail across Northern Alaska in the extended period. 500 mb heights will likely dip below 500 dam at some point in the period across the whole area, indicative of a very cold airmass. Cloud cover will begin to slowly increase though as the blocking ridge of high pressure to the west breaks down.

Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None

AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

AK...Dense Fog Advisory for AKZ844. PK...Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ801-850. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ802. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ806. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ807. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ810. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ811-856. Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ816-851. Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ817. Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ854. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ855-858. Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ857.