Alert archive / Alaska / Gale Warnings in 2017
Gale Warning 281, NWS Juneau, AK
NWS Juneau, AK issued this gale warning at Dec 21, 2017, 3:31 AM AKST. It was in force for 72 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 21, 2017, 3:31 AM AKST (12:31 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 24, 2017, 3:17 AM AKST
- In force
- 72 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Juneau, AK
The text
As transmitted.
405 FZAK67 PAJK 211231 OFFAJK Offshore Waters Forecast National Weather Service Juneau AK 331 AM AKST Thu Dec 21 2017 Offshore waters forecast for Gulf of Alaska east of 144W Wind forecasts reflect the predominant speed and direction expected. Sea forecasts represent the average of the highest one-third of the combined windwave and swell height. PKZ398-220645- 331 AM AKST Thu Dec 21 2017 .SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA... High pressure continues build over the Yukon and the Gulf of Alaska Thu and will remain through Fri. A strong front will move into the western AK gulf Sat. $$ PKZ310-220645- Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees West- 331 AM AKST Thu Dec 21 2017 ...GALE WARNING TONIGHT... .TODAY...N wind 15 kt becoming E 25 kt. Seas 9 ft. W swell. .TONIGHT...E wind 35 kt. Seas 11 ft. .FRI...SE gale to 40 kt. Seas 15 ft. .FRI NIGHT...SE gale to 40 kt. Seas 17 ft. .SAT...SE gale to 40 kt. Seas 20 ft. .SUN...W gale to 35 kt. Seas 16 ft. .MON...W wind 15 kt. Seas 8 ft. $$
6 follow-up statements
211 FZAK67 PAJK 220028 OFFAJK Offshore Waters Forecast National Weather Service Juneau AK 328 PM AKST Thu Dec 21 2017 Offshore waters forecast for Gulf of Alaska east of 144W Wind forecasts reflect the predominant speed and direction expected. Sea forecasts represent the average of the highest one-third of the combined windwave and swell height. PKZ398-221830- 328 PM AKST Thu Dec 21 2017 .SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA... Strong high pressure will persist over western Canada through Saturday. A strong front will enter the eastern gulf on Sunday. $$ PKZ310-221830- Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees West- 328 PM AKST Thu Dec 21 2017 ...GALE WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY... .TONIGHT...E wind 25 kt increasing to 35 kt. Seas 5 ft building to 10 ft. .FRI...SE wind 40 kt. Seas 14 ft. .FRI NIGHT...SE gale to 40 kt. Seas 17 ft. Slight chance of rain. .SAT...SE gale to 40 kt. Seas 20 ft. Chance of rain. .SAT NIGHT...SE gale to 35 kt. Seas 21 ft. Rain. .SUN...W gale to 35 kt. Seas 16 ft. .MON...W wind 15 kt. Seas 8 ft. .TUE...Wind variable less than 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. $$
137 FZAK67 PAJK 221324 OFFAJK Offshore Waters Forecast National Weather Service Juneau AK 424 AM AKST Fri Dec 22 2017 Offshore waters forecast for Gulf of Alaska east of 144W Wind forecasts reflect the predominant speed and direction expected. Sea forecasts represent the average of the highest one-third of the combined windwave and swell height. PKZ398-230730- 424 AM AKST Fri Dec 22 2017 .SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA... A Strong high pressure system will persist over western Canada through Saturday. A strong front will enter the eastern gulf on Sunday. $$ PKZ310-230730- Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees West- 424 AM AKST Fri Dec 22 2017 ...GALE WARNING THROUGH TONIGHT... .TODAY...SE wind 40 kt. Seas 14 ft. .TONIGHT...SE wind 40 kt. Seas 16 ft. .SAT...SE gale to 40 kt. Seas 18 ft. Rain in the afternoon. .SAT NIGHT...S gale to 35 kt. Seas 19 ft. Rain late. .SUN...W wind 30 kt. Seas 15 ft. .MON...W wind 15 kt. Seas 8 ft. .TUE...Wind variable less than 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. $$
475 FZAK67 PAJK 230030 OFFAJK Offshore Waters Forecast National Weather Service Juneau AK 330 PM AKST Fri Dec 22 2017 Offshore waters forecast for Gulf of Alaska east of 144W Wind forecasts reflect the predominant speed and direction expected. Sea forecasts represent the average of the highest one-third of the combined windwave and swell height. PKZ398-231830- 330 PM AKST Fri Dec 22 2017 .SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA... A strong high pressure system will persist over western Canada through Sun. A weakening weather front will move NE into the eastern gulf on Sun. $$ PKZ310-231830- Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees West- 330 PM AKST Fri Dec 22 2017 ...GALE WARNING THROUGH SATURDAY... .TONIGHT...SE wind 35 kt. Seas 17 ft. .SAT...SE wind 35 kt. Seas 20 ft. .SAT NIGHT...SE wind 30 kt. Seas 18 ft. .SUN...SE wind 25 kt. Seas 16 ft. S swell. Rain. .SUN NIGHT...W wind 20 kt. Seas 14 ft. SW swell. .MON...W wind 20 kt. Seas 11 ft. .TUE...Wind variable less than 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. .WED...Wind variable less than 15 kt. Seas 9 ft. $$
081 FZAK67 PAJK 231225 OFFAJK Offshore Waters Forecast National Weather Service Juneau AK 325 AM AKST Sat Dec 23 2017 Offshore waters forecast for Gulf of Alaska east of 144W Wind forecasts reflect the predominant speed and direction expected. Sea forecasts represent the average of the highest one-third of the combined windwave and swell height. PKZ398-240630- 325 AM AKST Sat Dec 23 2017 .SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA... A strong high pressure system will persist over western Canada through Sun. A weakening weather front will move NE into the eastern gulf on Sun. A weak low will form in the southeast gulf Sun night. $$ PKZ310-240630- Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees West- 325 AM AKST Sat Dec 23 2017 ...GALE WARNING THROUGH TONIGHT... .TODAY...SE wind 35 kt. Seas 17 ft. .TONIGHT...SE wind 35 kt diminishing in the evening. Seas 17 ft. .SUN...SE wind 25 kt. Seas 16 ft. S swell. Rain. .SUN NIGHT...W wind 20 kt. Seas 14 ft. SW swell. .MON...W wind 20 kt. Seas 10 ft. .TUE...NE wind 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. .WED...SE wind 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. $$
049 FZAK67 PAJK 240015 OFFAJK Offshore Waters Forecast National Weather Service Juneau AK 315 PM AKST Sat Dec 23 2017 Offshore waters forecast for Gulf of Alaska east of 144W Wind forecasts reflect the predominant speed and direction expected. Sea forecasts represent the average of the highest one-third of the combined windwave and swell height. PKZ398-241815- 315 PM AKST Sat Dec 23 2017 .SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA... A strong high pressure system will persist over western Canada through Sun. A weakening weather front will move NE into the eastern gulf on Sun. A weak low will form in the southeast gulf Sun night. $$ PKZ310-241815- Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees West- 315 PM AKST Sat Dec 23 2017 ...GALE WARNING THROUGH TONIGHT... .TONIGHT...SE wind 35 kt diminishing late. Seas 17 ft. Rain. .SUN...SE wind 25 kt. Seas 16 ft. S swell. Rain. .SUN NIGHT...W wind 20 kt. Seas 14 ft. S swell. .MON...W wind 20 kt. Seas 11 ft. SW swell. .MON NIGHT...NW wind 20 kt. Seas 9 ft. W swell. .TUE...NE wind 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. .WED...SE wind 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. .THU...E wind 20 kt. Seas 14 ft. $$
047 FZAK67 PAJK 241217 OFFAJK Offshore Waters Forecast National Weather Service Juneau AK 317 AM AKST Sun Dec 24 2017 Offshore waters forecast for Gulf of Alaska east of 144W Wind forecasts reflect the predominant speed and direction expected. Sea forecasts represent the average of the highest one-third of the combined windwave and swell height. PKZ398-250630- 317 AM AKST Sun Dec 24 2017 .SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA... A strong high pressure system will persist over western Canada through Sunday. A weakening weather front will move NE into the eastern gulf on Sunday and dissipate on Monday. A weak low will form in the southeast gulf Sunday night. $$ PKZ310-250630- Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees West- 317 AM AKST Sun Dec 24 2017 .TODAY...SE wind 25 kt. Seas 16 ft. S swell. Rain. .TONIGHT...W wind 20 kt. Seas 14 ft. S swell. .MON...W wind 20 kt. Seas 12 ft. W swell. .MON NIGHT...NW wind 20 kt. Seas 9 ft. W swell. .TUE...NE wind 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. .WED...E wind 25 kt. Seas 8 ft. .THU...E wind 30 kt. Seas 12 ft. $$
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this gale warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Juneau, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this gale warning went out at Dec 20, 2:51 PM AKST, 12 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 20, 2:51 PM AKST, 12 hours 40 minutes before
Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Juneau AK
251 PM AKST Wed Dec 20 2017
.SHORT TERM.../Through Fri night/ Fast moving, moisture starved
trough moving through the panhandle this afternoon dropping light
snow/rain on most areas as it passes. Snow amounts, where it has
been cold enough for it, have generally been around 1 to 2 inches
at most. Some warmer air has also been sneaked northward by this
system today as evidenced by temperature warming to near or above
freezing with precip mixing with or changing to rain in several
areas.
As of 3 pm, precip has generally ended north of Frederick
Sound (except for Juneau), and only Petersburg and Wrangell are
seeing snow at the moment. Precip should be ending for all areas
by late tonight (except for Hyder) and skies will start to clear
out. Any additional snow accumulations where it will be cold
enough will only be around an inch (up to 2 inches at the high
end). Some patchy fog expected as skies clear tonight but the fog
should dissipate as dry north winds pick up.
Behind the trough, Skies will clear out quickly with a building
high in the Yukon kicking up the northerly outflow winds late
tonight into tomorrow. Lynn Canal is expected to briefly reach
gale force later tonight as pressure gradients reach around 6 mb
between Juneau and Skagway but will settle down to 20 to 25 kt
tomorrow into Friday. Generally dry weather with northerly winds
(locally gusty) expected to continue into Fri night as an upper
ridge builds and then stalls over the area through the period.
Few overall changes in the short range forecast from the previous
forecast. Guidance was in good agreement. Used Nam with some GFS
for any needed overall updates.
.LONG TERM.../Friday through Wednesday as of 10 PM Tuesday/ The
extended forecast begins with an upper level ridge with its axis
centered over the Panhandle. At the same time, surface high
pressure will exist over the Yukon with lower pressure over
southern British Colombia. This will set up a cooler/dry beginning
to the extended forecast dominated by northerly outflow winds at
the surface.
A surface low pressure system south of the Aleutians and its
associated weather front will begin to track northeast toward the
Panhandle on Friday. The persistence of the upper level ridge
will determine how long it takes this front to arrive at the
Panhandle. Currently strong gales are expected along the front
over the gulf. Precipitation associated with this system will
likely be snow over the northern Panhandle and a rain and snow
mix further south; dependent on timing entirely rain or a mix may
fall over the southern Panhandle. Amounts will probably be light
as the front will weaken as it moves into the ridge. Behind this
system another upper level and surface ridge look to rebuild over
the Panhandle toward the middle of next week.
Models are currently struggling to determine how long the upper
level ridge persists over the Panhandle which could bring
precipitation into the eastern gulf coast as early as Saturday
afternoon or as late as Sunday afternoon. The GFS is currently the
fastest and carries the strongest system, while the ECMWF is the
slowest. A slight trend toward the 12Z ECMWF was made in the
extended and POPs were adjusted to at least a slight chance over
the holiday weekend due to the timing discrepancy. Temperatures
were trended downward from Friday through Sunday due to the
outflow/fewer clouds. Otherwise significant changes were not made
in the extended forecast. Confidence in the weekend system is
below average due to significant timing discrepancies.
&&
.AJK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
PUBLIC...None.
MARINE...Gale Warning for PKZ012.
Small Craft Advisory for PKZ013-021-022.
Small Craft Advisory due to Seas for PKZ041>043-051-052.
&&
EAL/JB
Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/JuneauThe office that day
Everything else NWS Juneau, AK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 21, 10:54 AM AKST | Small Craft Advisory | AJK | 18 hr |
Nearby
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text.