Alert archive / Alaska / Gale Warnings in 2021

Gale Warning 238, NWS Juneau, AK

November 8, 2021

NWS Juneau, AK issued this gale warning at Nov 8, 2021, 3:27 AM AKST. It was in force for 36 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
Nov 8, 2021, 3:27 AM AKST (12:27 UTC)
Expired
Nov 9, 2021, 3:49 PM AKST
In force
36 hr
Issued by
NWS Juneau, AK

The text

As transmitted.

299 
FZAK67 PAJK 081227
OFFAJK

Offshore Waters Forecast
National Weather Service Juneau AK
327 AM AKST Mon Nov 8 2021

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.

PKZ398-090630-
327 AM AKST Mon Nov 8 2021
.SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA...
High pressure lies over the northern border. Low pressure west
of Haida Gwaii will linger through Tuesday, periodically sending 
frontal bands into the southern panhandle. 

$$

PKZ310-090630-
Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees
West-
327 AM AKST Mon Nov 8 2021

...GALE WARNING TONIGHT...

.TODAY...E wind 25 kt. Seas 8 ft. 
.TONIGHT...NE wind 35 kt. Seas 10 ft. Rain showers...heavy at 
times late. 
.TUE...NW wind 30 kt. Seas 10 ft. Rain showers in the
morning. 
.TUE NIGHT...W wind 25 kt. Seas 9 ft. S swell. 
.WED...SE wind 30 kt. Seas 7 ft. 
.THU...E gale to 40 kt. Seas 13 ft. 
.FRI...S wind 25 kt. Seas 11 ft. 

$$
4 follow-up statements
034 
FZAK67 PAJK 090029
OFFAJK

Offshore Waters Forecast
National Weather Service Juneau AK
329 PM AKST Mon Nov 8 2021

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.

PKZ398-091830-
329 PM AKST Mon Nov 8 2021
.SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA...
High pressure persists in Northern Canada through Tuesday. A
strong low pressure west of Haida Gwaii weakens as it moves
north into the southern panhandle by Tuesday evening.  

$$

PKZ310-091830-
Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees
West-
329 PM AKST Mon Nov 8 2021

...GALE WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING...

.TONIGHT...E wind 20 kt becoming NE 35 kt. Seas 9 ft building to 
12 ft late. Rain showers...heavy at times late. 
.TUE...NW wind 35 kt becoming 25 kt in the afternoon. Seas 13 ft.
Rain showers in the morning.
.TUE NIGHT...W wind 25 kt. Seas 12 ft subsiding to 9 ft late.
SE swell. 
.WED...SW wind 15 kt in the morning becoming variable less
than 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. SE swell in the morning. 
.WED NIGHT...SE wind 20 kt becoming E 30 kt late. Seas 6 ft
or less then 10 ft late. 
.THU...E gale to 40 kt. Seas 14 ft. 
.FRI...S wind 25 kt. Seas 11 ft. 
.SAT...SW wind 20 kt. Seas 9 ft. 

$$
534 
FZAK67 PAJK 091249
OFFAJK

Offshore Waters Forecast
National Weather Service Juneau AK
349 AM AKST Tue Nov 9 2021

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.

PKZ398-100700-
349 AM AKST Tue Nov 9 2021
.SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA...
High pressure persists in Northern Canada through Tuesday. A
strong low pressure west of Haida Gwaii weakens as it moves north
into the Dixon Entrance by Tuesday evening. 

$$

PKZ310-100700-
Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees
West-
349 AM AKST Tue Nov 9 2021

...GALE WARNING EARLY TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING...

.TODAY...NW wind 35 kt diminishing to 25 kt in the afternoon. 
Seas 12 ft. Rain showers early in the morning. 
.TONIGHT...NW wind 25 kt becoming W 15 kt late. Seas 11 ft. S 
swell.
.WED...S wind 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. S swell in the morning. 
.WED NIGHT...SE wind 20 kt becoming E 30 kt late. Seas 6 ft
building to 9 ft late. 
.THU...S gale to 40 kt. Seas 17 ft. 
.FRI...SW wind 25 kt. Seas 13 ft. 
.SAT...SW wind 25 kt. Seas 8 ft. 

$$
002 
FZAK67 PAJK 091723 CCA
OFFAJK

Offshore Waters Forecast...CORRECTED
National Weather Service Juneau AK
823 AM AKST Tue Nov 9 2021

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.

PKZ398-100700-
823 AM AKST Tue Nov 9 2021
.SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA...
High pressure persists in Northern Canada through Tuesday. A
strong low pressure west of Haida Gwaii weakens as it moves north
into the Dixon Entrance by Tuesday evening. 

$$

PKZ310-100700-
Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees
West-
823 AM AKST Tue Nov 9 2021

...GALE WARNING THIS MORNING...

.TODAY...NW wind 35 kt diminishing to 25 kt in the afternoon. 
Seas 12 ft. Rain showers early in the morning. 
.TONIGHT...NW wind 25 kt becoming W 15 kt late. Seas 11 ft. S 
swell.
.WED...S wind 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. S swell in the morning. 
.WED NIGHT...SE wind 20 kt becoming E 30 kt late. Seas 6 ft
building to 9 ft late. 
.THU...S gale to 40 kt. Seas 17 ft. 
.FRI...SW wind 25 kt. Seas 13 ft. 
.SAT...SW wind 25 kt. Seas 8 ft. 

$$
831 
FZAK67 PAJK 100049
OFFAJK

Offshore Waters Forecast
National Weather Service Juneau AK
349 PM AKST Tue Nov 9 2021

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.

PKZ398-101900-
349 PM AKST Tue Nov 9 2021
.SYNOPSIS FOR THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA...
Low pressure over Dixon Entrance weakens as it moves eastward
through Wednesday morning as a high pressure ridge tracks over
the E Gulf and Panhandle. A gale force low moves into the SE
Gulf by Thursday. 

$$

PKZ310-101900-
Gulf of Alaska North of 55 Degrees North and East of 144 Degrees
West-
349 PM AKST Tue Nov 9 2021

.TONIGHT...W wind 25 kt. Seas 10 ft. SE swell. 
.WED...S wind 15 kt. Seas 7 ft. 
.WED NIGHT...SE wind 20 kt becoming E 30 kt late. Seas 7 ft
building to 11 ft late. 
.THU...E gale to 35 kt. Seas 17 ft. Rain.
.THU NIGHT...S wind 30 kt becoming W 25 kt late. Seas 17 ft.
Rain in the evening. 
.FRI...SW wind 30 kt. Seas 13 ft. 
.SAT...SW wind 20 kt. Seas 8 ft. 
.SUN...N wind 20 kt. Seas 6 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 Nov 7, 2:06 PM AKST, 13 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 7, 2:06 PM AKST, 13 hours 21 minutes before
Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Juneau AK
206 PM AKST Sun Nov 7 2021

.SHORT TERM.../Sunday Evening through Tuesday Night/...Through
Sunday night, a relatively weak low in the southeast Gulf will
bring some isolated to scattered light shower activity to the
southern Panhandle. It is possible that the higher elevations on
the road system on Prince of Wales Island could get some light
snow accumulations up to around one inch Sunday night. Places
whose temperatures are moderated by being near sea level such as
Hydaburg, Craig, Klawock, and Edna Bay will stay warm enough to
only see scattered rain showers.

For the rest of the Panhandle, a ridge of high pressure up at
500mb look to give the central and northern Panhandle subjectively
nice weather through Sunday night with dry conditions and clear
to partly cloudy skies. Relatively non-impactful sustained land
winds will be felt over the Panhandle, generally staying less than
20 mph through Sunday night.

A weak front will move from south to north over the Panhandle on
Monday, bringing only very slight chances for shower activity.
The likelihood that most areas will remain dry on Monday is high.
Primarily, people will see increased cloudiness and marginally
increased wind magnitudes according to ECMWF and GFS ensemble
average model output.

Unlike Saturday night into Sunday morning, increased wind speeds
of at least 10 mph, causing convective mixing of the boundary-
layer, will keep the threat of any widespread persistent dense fog
at bay for the area, tonight, and for the remainder of the short-
term forecast period.

On Monday night, a much stronger system will move well to the
south of the southeast Gulf and Panhandle. The main impactful
changes for the region will be increased marine winds up to
borderline small craft and Gale over southeast Gulf outside waters
and over the Inner Channel waters. This will be due to the
increased pressure gradient between the aforementioned strong low
and established higher pressure over the Canadian Yukon region.
This will bring northerly outflow winds over the northern Inner
Channels where the pressure gradient will be the tightest.

Since chances remain quite low for any appreciable precipitation
over the Panhandle, temperatures will remain relatively non-
impactful through the short-term forecast period. Low
temperatures will primarily be in the 20s to 30s over the
Panhandle from north to south, respectively. Highs will generally
be in the 30s to 40s over the region.

Overall, forecast confidence remains above average, due to good
model agreement. Not many significant changes had to be made to
the forecast that we inherited to keep the forecast on-track.

.LONG TERM.../Tuesday through Sunday as of 10 PM Saturday/ Start
of the long term continues to hint at below-normal temperatures,
above-normal precipitation in the late long term, and chances
that whoever does not see their first snowfall at the start of the
short term, will likely see snow in the long term.

The surface low mentioned in the short term meanders south of the
panhandle, resulting in a very slight chance of precipitation in
the southern portion of Prince of Wales, but leaving the remainder
of the panhandle with offshore flow and dry weather through mid-
week. N/S pressure gradients will be strong, resulting in small
craft advisory potential for N/S oriented channels, especially
Northern Lynn Canal.

Models are still in agreement with the main system, which will
approach the panhandle sometime on Thursday/Friday with heavy
rainfall rates that may start as snow in the northern half of the
panhandle. This increase in precipitation is signaled in the
climate predication centers outlook, ensemble tables, and the
Alaska RFC. Winds will pick up in the Gulf first and then as the
low approaches the panhandle a strong W/E pressure gradient
will increase the chances of small crafts to those oriented
channels.

Continued to use the WPC and blended with GFS/NAM where
appropriate. Increasing confidence of a drying trend mid-week and
an impactful storm at the end of the week. Main changes tonight
included decreasing the probability of precipitation for Tuesday
and thus removing the snowfall, adding in the winds/precipitation
for the late week system, adding possibility of snowfall at the
start of the end of week system.

&&

.AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PUBLIC...None.
MARINE...Small Craft Advisory for PKZ012-022-041>043.

&&

JLC/KRT

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 8, 4:00 AM AKSTGale WarningAJK36 hr
Nov 8, 4:00 AM AKSTSmall Craft AdvisoryAJK36 hr
Nov 8, 4:14 AM AKSTGale WarningAJK36 hr
Nov 8, 4:14 AM AKSTSmall Craft AdvisoryAJK60 hr

Nearby

Gale Warnings in Alaska, 2021Every gale warning in 2021

Sources

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