Alert archive / Alaska / Storm Warnings in 2018

Storm Warning 43, NWS Juneau, AK

December 9, 2018

NWS Juneau, AK issued this storm warning at Dec 9, 2018, 3:10 PM AKST. It was in force for 24 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 9, 2018, 3:10 PM AKST (00:10 UTC)
Expired
Dec 10, 2018, 3:25 PM AKST
In force
24 hr
Issued by
NWS Juneau, AK

The text

As transmitted.

359 
FZAK67 PAJK 100010
OFFAJK

Offshore Waters Forecast
National Weather Service Juneau AK
310 PM AKST Sun Dec 9 2018

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.

PKZ398-101815-
310 PM AKST Sun Dec 9 2018
.SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA...
A trough of low pressure will continue to fill as it slowly 
drifts northeast Sunday evening. A strong front will enter the 
gulf from the west Monday. The associated low will deepen in the 
central gulf as it moves north to the north-central gulf by 
Monday afternoon before turning to the northwest. 

$$

PKZ310-101815-
Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees
West-
310 PM AKST Sun Dec 9 2018

...STORM WARNING MONDAY...

.TONIGHT...S wind 35 kt. Seas 15 ft. SE swell early in the
evening. Rain.
.MON...S wind 40 kt increasing to 50 kt in the morning, then 
becoming SW 30 kt in the afternoon. Strongest winds southeast 
area. Seas 17 ft. Rain in the morning, then rain showers in the 
afternoon. 
.MON NIGHT...SW wind 30 kt. Seas 16 ft. Rain showers late. 
.TUE...W gale to 35 kt. Seas 19 ft. Showers.
.TUE NIGHT...W gale to 35 kt becoming SW 25 kt late. Seas
24 ft. SW swell late. 
.WED...S wind 30 kt. Seas 22 ft. 
.THU...SW wind 30 kt. Seas 22 ft. 
.FRI...SE wind 30 kt. Seas 15 ft. 

$$
2 follow-up statements
914 
FZAK67 PAJK 101130
OFFAJK

Offshore Waters Forecast
National Weather Service Juneau AK
230 AM AKST Mon Dec 10 2018

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.

PKZ398-110530-
230 AM AKST Mon Dec 10 2018
.SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA...
A strong front will enter the gulf from the west Monday. The
associated low will deepen in the central gulf as it moves north
to the north-central gulf by Monday afternoon before turning to
the northwest. The low will stall near Prince William Sound
through Tuesday night then weaken.  

$$

PKZ310-110530-
Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees
West-
230 AM AKST Mon Dec 10 2018

...STORM WARNING TODAY...

.TODAY...SW wind 30 kt becoming S 50 kt in the morning, then 
diminishing to 30 kt in the afternoon. Seas 17 ft. Rain early in 
the morning, then rain showers in the afternoon. 
.TONIGHT...SW wind 30 kt. Seas 17 ft. Slight chance of
thunderstorms late. 
.TUE...W gale to 35 kt. Seas 19 ft. Slight chance of
thunderstorms. 
.TUE NIGHT...SW wind 30 kt. Seas 23 ft. Slight chance of
thunderstorms in the evening. 
.WED...W gale to 45 kt. Seas 23 ft. 
.THU...W gale to 40 kt. Seas 21 ft. 
.FRI...SE wind 30 kt. Seas 14 ft. 

$$
644 
FZAK67 PAJK 110025
OFFAJK

Offshore Waters Forecast
National Weather Service Juneau AK
325 PM AKST Mon Dec 10 2018

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.

PKZ398-111830-
325 PM AKST Mon Dec 10 2018
.SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA...
A storm force front offshore of Southeast Alaska will push into
the Panhandle Mon night and weaken. A gale force front will then 
slide E across the gulf Tue and move into the Panhandle Tue 
evening. Outlook. A strong low will move into the central gulf 
Wed. 

$$

PKZ310-111830-
Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees
West-
325 PM AKST Mon Dec 10 2018

...GALE WARNING TONIGHT AND TUESDAY...

.TONIGHT...S wind increasing to 35 kt early in the evening, then
decreasing late. Strongest winds western side. Seas 17 ft. Rain 
showers early in the evening. Slight chance of thunderstorms late.
.TUE...SW wind 30 kt becoming W 40 kt in the afternoon. Seas
21 ft. Slight chance of thunderstorms. 
.TUE NIGHT...SW wind 30 kt. Seas 24 ft. Slight chance of
thunderstorms in the evening. 
.WED...E gale to 40 kt diminishing to 30 kt in the
afternoon. Seas 23 ft. Snow showers...heavy at times in the
morning. Rain showers.
.WED NIGHT...W gale to 45 kt. Seas 28 ft. Rain and snow
showers in the evening. 
.THU...W gale to 40 kt. Seas 23 ft. 
.FRI...SE wind 30 kt. Seas 14 ft. 
.SAT...SE gale to 40 kt. Seas 21 ft. 

$$

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this storm 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 storm warning went out at Dec 9, 3:01 PM AKST, 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 9, 3:01 PM AKST, 9 minutes before
Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Juneau AK
301 PM AKST Sun Dec 9 2018

.SHORT TERM...Very active weather continues for SE. We have one
system pushing through this afternoon with moderate to heavy
showers and gusty winds occurring. Late tonight another front will
cross the gulf with winds increasing to 40-50kt over the outside
waters and heavy rain. A wave developing along the front will
work to enhance it as it moves onshore Monday morning. Have
widespread strong winds (40-50mph gusts) expected for majority of
the panhandle as the front passes through the day. This front
again looks warm, so near sea level will see all rain. However,
White Pass should remain just cold enough for another round of
heavy snow. Have 12-20 inches over a 24hr period for there,
encompassing Monday.

Once this front passes, winds will shift to the SW with cold air
advection behind it. Expect a transition back to showers with the
CAA and even some snow showers. Ocean effect rain and snow
showers will continue through Tuesday night with some minor
accumulations possible.

Adjusted wind speeds up using primarily the NAMnest. Some
uncertainty remains with timing and strength of waves along the
front, any adjustment to these would mainly impact placement of
strongest winds. Confidence in categorical rain or showers is
above average, going to be a wet couple of days with negligible
breaks.

.LONG TERM.../Tuesday through Sunday night/...Very active long
range forecast period. Extended range forecast begins with a
large and fairly broad negatively tilted upper trough oriented
northwest to southeast across the Gulf of Alaska. Models in very
good agreement on this and all significant jet energy begins this
period well to the south. A progressive upper ridge will displace
the trough to the east and come to lie over the eastern gulf by
Wednesday morning. This feature is then also displaced to the east
as an upper short wave moves into the gulf on Wednesday night. A
short lived upper low will form, but this will get ejected to the
north or become absorbed by another, more sharply defined upper
trough Thursday afternoon and continues to the east into Canada by
Friday afternoon. Once more upper ridge moves over on Saturday and
by Sunday, it looks as if a large upper low will set up over the
gulf and remain in place into next week.

At the surface, model agreement not nearly as good. All agree at
the start that there will be a large, complex area of low pressure
than spans from the western interior, east into the Yukon, and to
the southern Gulf of Alaska. The difficulty is that numerous
surface circulations are embedded within the larger complex and no
two models are in agreement on precisely where those surface
circulations are at the start or where they will go/how they
evolve over the course of the upcoming week. This is no trivial
problem either, as the various model solutions have yet another
storm force low crossing the southeastern gulf on Tuesday. Beyond
that, at least three more high end gale force fronts on Wednesday
evening, Saturday, and Sunday will affect the eastern gulf and
Southeast Alaska.

Very gradual cooling of the low levels is also forecast for the
upcoming week with overnight lows getting down to freezing or
below for nearly all populated locations by Thursday night. Thus,
there is the possibility of some snow at the lower elevations.
This is not a certainty, since the pattern, with fronts coming in
from the west, is not a reliable snow scenario. Time will tell.

&&

.AJK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
PUBLIC...Strong Wind until 3 PM AKST this afternoon for AKZ026.
     Strong Wind from Monday morning through Monday afternoon for
     AKZ021-023-025>027.
     Strong Wind from Monday morning through Monday afternoon for
     AKZ017-024-028.
     Strong Wind from Monday morning through Monday afternoon for
     AKZ022.
     Winter Storm Warning from 3 AM Monday to 5 AM AKST Tuesday for
     AKZ018.
MARINE...Storm Warning for PKZ041-042.
     Gale Warning for PKZ021-022-031>036-043-051-052.
     Small Craft Advisory for PKZ011>013-053.

&&

Ferrin/Fritsch

Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/Juneau

In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 9, 9:25 AM AKST, 5 hours 45 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK
925 AM AKST SUN DEC 9 2018

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0724 AM     SNOW             WHITE PASS              59.62N 135.14W
12/09/2018  U22.0 INCH                          AK   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            AT WHITE PASS, AKDOT REPORTS 22 INCHES OF SNOW. BETWEEN
            MILE 8 AND MILE 14 OF SOUTH KLONDIKE, 14-22 INCHES FELL.
            BETWEEN SKAGWAY AND MILE 8, UP TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW FELL.

0845 AM     NON-TSTM WND DMG SE CRAIG                55.48N 133.12W
12/09/2018                                      AK   CO-OP OBSERVER

            12-INCH DIAMETER HEMLOCK TREE FELL ACROSS PORT ST. NICK
            ROAD SOUTHEAST OF CRAIG AND BLOCKED ROAD BEFORE IT WAS
            CLEARED. WIND SPEEDS UNKNOWN. TIME OF INCIDENT UNKNOWN.

&&

JWA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Juneau, AK issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 9, 3:10 PM AKSTGale WarningAJK11 hr
Dec 9, 3:10 PM AKSTStorm WarningAJK24 hr
Dec 9, 3:11 PM AKSTGale WarningAJK36 hr
Dec 9, 3:43 PM AKSTWinter Storm WarningAJK37 hr
Dec 10, 2:34 AM AKSTSmall Craft AdvisoryAJK13 hr
Dec 10, 2:44 AM AKSTGale WarningAJK25 hr
Dec 10, 9:48 AM AKSTStorm WarningAJK18 hr

Nearby

Storm Warnings in Alaska, 2018Every storm warning in 2018

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text.