Brisk Wind Advisory 102, NWS Fairbanks, AK

Northern Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Fairbanks AK
234 PM AKST Wed Mar 1 2017

.DISCUSSION...The main forecast challenge over the next few days
will be the blizzard conditions that are expected to develop over
the eastern Beaufort Sea Coast. The models are in very good
agreement out through the weekend. Aloft, the current synoptic
scale pattern at 500 hpa has a broad long wave trough over Alaska
with a ridge stretching from the Aleutian Chain to the Chukotsk
Peninsula. This overall pattern won't change much through the
weekend and will push east just a bit on Saturday.

Central and Eastern Interior: Skies have generally cleared out
over the Interior. Winds overnight last night helped to keep the
temperatures a little bit warmer than expected in many locations.
The winds have died down a bit today for the most part, so we
expect the temperatures to drop down tonight to the 25 to 35
degree below zero range across much of the Interior. We expect
northerly winds to persist in the passes of the Alaska range
tonight. This will cause the winds chill to drop down to 50 below,
so will keep the current wind chill advisories out. Skies will
remain relatively clear through Friday. Chances for snow increase
for Saturday and Sunday; however, as of now the models have
differences in how they timing and placement of the features that
will cause the snowfall.

West Coast and Western Interior: Generally quiet weather will
persist through the weekend. The next chance for snow will be
Friday evening for the coastal areas and Saturday morning for the
interior.

North Slope and Brooks Range: High pressure building over the
arctic plain tonight combined with an area of low pressure diving
southward will cause the pressure gradient to tighten and the
winds to increase overnight tonight and especially on Thursday.
Blizzard conditions with winds gusting up to 70 mph are expected
tomorrow on the eastern Beaufort Sea coast. A winter weather
advisory is out for the central Beaufort Sea coast where the winds
will not be quite as storm as they will be further to the east.
The winds will cause some issues with wind chills as well. With
this package I am issuing a wind chill advisory for the Western
Arctic coast. I don't think the advisory criteria will be met in
the northern Arctic Coast or in the Western Brooks Rage; however,
those areas could be close and will need to be monitored. in the
eastern Brooks Range the tight pressure gradient across the range
will cause northerly winds to develop through the Passes causing
blowing snow.

&&

.AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Wind Chill Advisory for AKZ225-AKZ226.

Blizzard Warning for AKZ204.

Winter Weather Advisory for AKZ203-AKZ206-AKZ218.

Gale Warning for PKZ245.

Brisk Wind Advisory for PKZ240.
&&

MAR 17