Gale Warning 845, NWS Anchorage, AK

Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
525 AM AKST Sun Dec 14 2025

.SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3)...

Key Message:
Strong northerly winds and cold temperatures will persist for
Southcentral Alaska.

The pattern of surface high pressure to the north and a low in the
Gulf of Alaska will keep strong winds across Southcentral Alaska
into Monday. The cold upper level low is helping to keep
temperates colder than normal, but the presence of the winds is
keeping the atmosphere well mixed and therefore temperatures are
higher across the region that a few days ago. While resulting wind
chills are below zero in many areas, they are not quite as low as
ambient temperatures were. This is the story for Sunday into
Monday across Southcentral.

Winds are expected to slowly decrease throughout the day on
Monday, but it may be Tuesday before many areas really feel like
the winds have subsided. Other areas that are susceptible to
gap winds (such as Valdez and Kodiak) will continue to see breezy
conditions into Tuesday and beyond. The Copper River Basin will
lose their winds on Monday and then temperatures there will again
plummet well below zero.

&&

.SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days
1 through 3: Today through Tuesday)...

Key Messages:

-Cold temperatures continue across Southwest Alaska, with several
 days below 0F inland and wind chills of -10 to -30. Near-average
 temperatures for the southern AK Peninsula through the
 Aleutians.

-Strong northerly winds from Southwest AK through Bristol Bay into
 the AK Peninsula with gale and storm-force winds across the
 waters, increasing slightly through Monday.

-Little to no precipitation for Southwest Alaska through early
 next week.

-Scattered snow showers will be possible on Monday as a trough
 digs southward across the Pribilof Islands and then the Eastern
 Aleutians through Tuesday.

Southwest Alaska remains largely clear of both cloud cover and
precipitation this morning. Nighttime microphysics satellite shows
a mostly stationary ridge of high pressure located over the
Bering Sea and a broad trough situated over the Gulf of Alaska, a
pattern that has been in place for the past few days and will
continue through early next week. In-between the ridge and the
trough sits Southwest Alaska, bereft of cloud cover thanks to
drier air filtering through the region. Temperatures range from at
or below zero over the interior Kuskokwim Delta, to up into the
teens along the coast, and single digits for much of the rest of
Southwest. A tightened pressure gradient is maintaining gusty
northerly winds across portions of the Kuskokwim Valley, with the
strongest winds filtering southward through the Greater Bristol
Bay region. The communities of New Stuyahok, Dillingham, and King
Salmon continue to see winds gusting from 30 to as high as 45 mph
this morning, and this will likely continue for the rest of today
and tomorrow.

To the west, beneath the ridge over the Bering, low stratus is
prevailing. A small wave of low pressure is also noted tracking
southward across the Eastern Aleutians. Occasional light rain is
impacting Unalaska while further north a wintry mix is falling
across the Pribilof Islands. Precipitation for both locations
should quickly come to an end later this morning as the wave
continues southward into the North Pacific. The next trough digs
across the region on Monday with scattered snow showers to spread
across the Pribilof Islands during the morning hours on Monday,
then southward across the Eastern Aleutians and lower Alaska
Peninsula Saturday afternoon and evening. Snow should be light
with little in the way of accumulations. However, the combination
of gusty winds accompanying the snow may result in periods of
reduced visibility, before snow winds on Tuesday.

BL

&&

.LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7: Wednesday through
Saturday)...

A strong area of high pressure centered over the southern Bering
Sea over the Aleutian Islands Adak and Atka and, a broad and
complex low in the central Gulf of Alaska drifts east toward
Southeast Alaska and weakens gradually through the week. The
resulting pressure gradient drives gale to storm force winds out
of gaps from the eastern Aleutians, through the Alaska Peninsula,
to much of the Gulf as far east as the Copper River Delta through
mid- week. These winds will be aided by continued cold advection
across Alaska, with the coldest temperatures in the Copper River
Basin, where they will range from 20 to 40 degrees below zero. A
series of shortwave troughs aloft dropping south from the Arctic
could lead to periods of enhanced gap winds and reinforce the
colder temperatures. The forecast area remains dry overall. The
one exception looks to be on Friday, as some moisture lifts across
the western and northern Bering Sea with weak low pressure moving
over top of the ridge, which could bring some light snow to
portions of Southwest Alaska. By Saturday, the solution's spread
on the position of the ridge diverge greatly, with some solutions
keeping the ridge over the Bering, others shifting it over the
northern Pacific. Southern solutions would allow for more active
systems to swing into the northern Bering, depending on the ridge
placement.

&&
.AVIATION...

PANC...Very strong northerly winds and VFR conditions will
persist through Monday.

&&

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
254 PM AKST Sun Dec 14 2025

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

0220 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     Anchorage               61.22N 149.90W
12/14/2025                   Anchorage          AK   Public

            Shingles flying off from The Qiviut Shop
            (Oomingmak). Insulation and other debris
            from the roof was also blown off.

&&

JAR

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
323 PM AKST Sun Dec 14 2025

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

0153 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst Palmer Municipal Airpor 61.60N 149.08W
12/14/2025  E71 MPH          Matanuska-Susitna  AK   ASOS

0140 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst Merill Field            61.22N 149.85W
12/14/2025  E66 MPH          Anchorage          AK   ASOS

0155 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst Elmendorf-Richardson AF 61.25N 149.79W
12/14/2025  M73 MPH          Anchorage          AK   ASOS

0200 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst Lake Hood               61.18N 149.97W
12/14/2025  E71 MPH          Anchorage          AK   ASOS

            Peak wind on ASOS.

0253 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst Ted Stevens Internation 61.17N 150.00W
12/14/2025  E59 MPH          Anchorage          AK   ASOS

&&

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
352 PM AKST Sun Dec 14 2025

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

0200 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Dmg Anchorage (Spenard)     61.19N 149.93W
12/14/2025                   Anchorage          AK   NWS Employee

            A tree was blown down onto a powerline on
            McRae Road near Fish Creek.

&&

Preliminary Local Storm Report...Corrected
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
359 PM AKST Sun Dec 14 2025

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

0353 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst Palmer Municipal Airpor 61.60N 149.08W
12/14/2025  E78 MPH          Matanuska-Susitna  AK   ASOS

&&

JAR

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
402 PM AKST Sun Dec 14 2025

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

0130 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Dmg Anchorage (Government H 61.23N 149.87W
12/14/2025                   Anchorage          AK   NWS Employee

            Tree and powerline down in Government Hill.

&&