Sitka, AK Severe Weather Alertstar_ratehome

...COLD WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM AKST
WEDNESDAY...

* WHAT...Dangerously cold wind chill temperatures as low as 5
above.

* WHERE...Glacier Bay, Eastern Chichagof Island, City and
Borough of Sitka, Petersburg Borough, Western Kupreanof Island
and Kuiu Island and City and Borough of Wrangell.

* WHEN...Until 6 PM AKST Wednesday.

* IMPACTS...Frostbite and hypothermia are possible if exposed to
these temperatures.

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER SYSTEM TO BRING HEAVY SNOW THEN HEAVY RAIN
ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PANHANDLE...

After an extended period of much colder than normal temperatures,
a significant weather system will bring heavy snow changing over
to rain across the central and southern panhandle.

On Christmas night into Friday morning, a quick-moving low will
push along the eastern gulf coast and into far southeast Alaska,
bringing light to moderate snow, with around 1 to 3 inches of snow
possible.

Over the weekend, high pressure shifting east and a low moving
into the northern gulf will help steer an atmospheric river of
deep moisture into southeast Alaska. Heavy snow is expected to
push into the panhandle by late Friday night or early Saturday
morning. However, a tongue of much warmer air lifting into the
panhandle will be mixed down to the surface by the winds to
quickly changeover the snow to rain across most of the region on
Saturday. Moderate to heavy rainfall is then expected through the
weekend. The rainfall on top of the snow is expected to result in
excessive runoff that could lead to poor drainage on roadways and
localized areas of flooding. Now would be the time to act by
clearing snow on the ground around drainage areas and making
preparations for snowmelt and rain.

Uncertainty remains on specific snowfall amounts before the
changeover to rain and will be highly dependent on temperature
rises and changeover times, but preliminary snowfall forecast of
around 5 to 10 inches are possible for Sitka, Prince of Wales
Island and Ketchikan. Locations further inland could have a later
changeover to rain, with higher snowfall totals likely for
Angoon, Kake, Petersburg, Wrangell and Hyder. Additionally 4 to 6
inches of rainfall on top of the snow are possible through the
weekend along with any melt from the current snow pack that would
result in more runoff.

Stay tuned to the forecast over the coming days for updates as
this evolving system nears and a the scope and scale of impacts
become more clear.