Sumner Strait
Tonight: Light winds becoming SE 10 kt late. Seas 2 ft or less.
Sumner Strait on the map
The zone and the zones around it, tinted where a marine warning or advisory is in force. Tap a neighboring zone to open its forecast.
- Small Craft Advisory
Now
The nearest stations reporting each, as of Fri, Sep 25, 10:22 PM AKDT.
- Wind
- E 5 kt, gusts 7 kt at CDEA2
Alerts in force
No marine warning or advisory is in force for this zone.
What is normally issued here: in the past year NWS Juneau issued 18 Gale Warnings, 3 Special Marine Warnings, 1 Storm Warning, 73 Small Craft Advisories for this zone.
The forecast
Coastal Waters Forecast from National Weather Service Juneau AK, issued Fri, Sep 25, 3:33 PM AKDT, valid until Sat, Sep 26, 7:15 AM AKDT. Wind in knots, seas in feet.
- Tonight
- Light winds becoming SE 10 kt late. Seas 2 ft or less.
- Saturday
- SE wind 20 kt. Seas 4 ft. Rain in the afternoon.
- Saturday night
- SE wind 20 kt. Seas 4 ft. Rain late.
- Sunday
- SE wind 25 kt. Seas 5 ft, except 8 ft near ocean entrances. Rain.
- Sunday night
- SE wind 25 kt. Seas 6 ft, except 9 ft near ocean entrances. Showers.
- Monday
- SE wind 15 kt. Seas 4 ft.
- Tuesday
- SE wind 15 kt. Seas 4 ft.
- Wednesday
- SE wind 15 kt. Seas 3 ft.
Synopsis
Synopsis for southeast alaska inner channels coastal waters
A front will approach from the west late Friday into early Saturday. This will begin a pattern of elevated winds and seas, with near gales along the outer coast and with barrier jet gale force winds expected near Cape Suckling, late Friday into Saturday. Southeasterly fresh to strong breezes across the inner channels last through the weekend.
Buoys and stations nearby
The latest report from each station within reach of the zone, nearest first. Distances in nautical miles from the middle of the zone.
| Station | Distance | Wind | Waves | Water | Air | Pressure | Reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDEA2 Cape Decision, AK | 31 nm | E 5 kt, gusts 7 | 50°F | 1015.0 hPa | Fri, Sep 25, 10:22 PM AKDT | ||
| CDXA2 Cape Decision MXAK, AK | 31 nm | ESE 3 kt, gusts 6 | 51°F | 1015.1 hPa | Fri, Sep 25, 11:12 PM AKDT | ||
| WGXA2 Wrangell Harbor | 37 nm | NE 2 kt, gusts 3 | 44°F | 1015.2 hPa | Fri, Sep 25, 11:12 PM AKDT | ||
| PLXA2 9451054 - Port Alexander, AK | 40 nm | Calm | 47°F | 1014.2 hPa | Fri, Sep 25, 10:48 PM AKDT | ||
| CRGA2 Craig, AK | 54 nm | SE 1 kt, gusts 5 | 50°F | 1014.6 hPa | Fri, Sep 25, 10:24 PM AKDT | ||
| PGXA2 Point Gardner | 55 nm | E 1 kt, gusts 4 | 48°F | 1013.9 hPa | Fri, Sep 25, 11:12 PM AKDT |
The past year
Warnings, watches and advisories the National Weather Service issued for this zone over the past 12 months, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet’s archive.
| Product | Issued | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Gale Warning | 18 | Sat, Mar 21, 2026, 10:00 AM AKDT |
| Special Marine Warning | 3 | Sun, Sep 20, 2026, 12:05 PM AKDT |
| Storm Warning | 1 | Thu, Feb 12, 2026, 9:00 AM AKST |
| Small Craft Advisory | 73 | Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 1:00 PM AKDT |
| Dense Fog Advisory | 1 | Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 7:21 AM AKST |
What this means
Marine forecasts give wind in knots (1 knot is 1.15 mph) and seas in feet, except the high seas forecasts, which give seas in meters. Seas are the significant wave height, the average of the highest third of the waves; individual waves may be more than twice that. On the Great Lakes the forecast gives waves, not seas. "Wave Detail" splits the seas into the wind waves and each swell, with its direction and period.
Each coastal office writes a Coastal Waters Forecast for the bays, sounds and ocean out to 20 to 60 nautical miles, or on the Great Lakes a Nearshore Marine Forecast within 5 nautical miles of shore; the Open Lakes Forecast covers the rest of each lake. The Ocean Prediction Center and the National Hurricane Center write the Offshore Waters Forecasts out to about 250 nautical miles, and the High Seas Forecasts beyond. Forecasts are issued at least twice a day and updated when they go wrong.
- Small Craft Advisory
- Winds or conditions hazardous to small boats. The thresholds are set by each NWS region: typically sustained winds or frequent gusts of 20 to 25 knots up to 33 knots, and seas of 5 to 7 feet or more.
- Gale Warning
- Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 34 to 47 knots, not from a tropical cyclone.
- Storm Warning
- Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 48 to 63 knots, not from a tropical cyclone.
- Hurricane Force Wind Warning
- Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 64 knots or more, not from a tropical cyclone.
- Special Marine Warning
- A thunderstorm or squall over the water with winds or gusts of 34 knots or more, hail of 3/4 inch or more, or a waterspout, for up to two hours.
- Hazardous Seas Warning
- Wave heights or steepness at or above the office’s warning threshold, when the wind alone does not warrant a warning.
- Heavy Freezing Spray Warning
- Spray freezing on a vessel at 2 cm (3/4 inch) an hour or more.
- Tropical Storm and Hurricane Warnings
- Tropical storm (34 to 63 knots) or hurricane (64 knots or more) conditions expected within 36 hours. Watches: possible within 48 hours.
Nearby
- Frederick Sound
- Clarence Strait
- Dixon Entrance to Cape Decision out to 15 NM
- Southern Chatham Strait
- Stephens Passage
- Cape Decision to Cape Edgecumbe out to 15 NM
- Northern Chatham Strait
- Cape Decision to Cape Edgecumbe from 15 to 80 NM
- Dixon Entrance to Cape Decision from 15 to 90 NM
- Cape Edgecumbe to Cape Spencer out to 15 NM
Open the live map with marine zones and buoysThe hour-by-hour forecast for the middle of the zoneEvery Alaska zone
Sources
Coastal Waters Forecast CWFAJK from National Weather Service Juneau AK, issued Fri, Sep 25, 3:33 PM AKDT. Original at NWS. Buoy reports from the National Data Buoy Center. Past products from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Zone outlines from the NWS marine and offshore zone boundaries. Warnings and advisories from the NWS API, read 07:38 UTC. All public domain, from the National Weather Service.