Rain and gusty winds start the new week

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - AS was mentioned to me several times today, it was “quite a difference from yesterday” in the weather over Southcentral on Sunday. Yes, clouds have returned, along with areas of light rain as the weekend comes to a close. As of 4:38 p.m. Sunday, Anchorage officially received 0.09″ of rain for the date, bringing the monthly total up to 2.23″, which is 1.09″ above normal. Slightly heavier rain and even some gusty winds are expected later this evening, continuing through the overnight and into Monday as well.

We can blame the calendar (remember, September is our wettest month of the year, with an average of 3.10″), but at this particular moment in time, the blame goes to another large low pressure system swirling across the southern half of the Bering Sea. Unlike Thursday’s storm system, this one will move slower into Southwest Alaska on Monday, with a new, secondary low forming just east-southeast of Kodiak on Tuesday. This will help to keep waves of rain, generally light to moderate, with rainfall totals of around 0.75″ to 1.25″ for the western Kenai up through the Anchorage bowl, and into the Mat-Su Valleys through Tuesday. Coastal locations along the Kenai and throughout Prince William Sound, however, will be subject to locally heavy rainfall totaling 2 to 5 inches also through Tuesday.

Additional light rain may fall across the region on Wednesday. I am still hopeful for some large breaks in the clouds for quite a bit of sunshine on Thursday, and possibly Friday morning, before the next Bering Sea storm develops and arrives on Friday, and continues into Saturday. Stay tuned on that, but I’m certainly keeping my fingers crossed!

Have a wonderful and safe week!

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