Active weather set to return to Southcentral Alaska as strong ridge weakens

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - One of the strongest November ridges to ever build into the state of Alaska is expected to weaken and back off in the coming days. This not only will open the door for active weather to return to the region, but will also mean our days of sunny skies are coming to an end.

We’ll see another day full of plenty of sunshine, with highs warming into the 20s and 30s. It’s possible we could see a few isolated locations along the gulf climb to near 40 degrees. You’ll want to enjoy the sunshine, as clouds are set to slowly return to the region as we head into the weekend.

The strong ridge has influenced much of Alaska’s weather over the last few days, but will slowly pull off to the southeast as it weakens.

What does this mean for Alaska? As the ridge weakens, it will open the door for areas of low pressure to move through the Gulf of Alaska. As a result of this, clouds, slightly warmer temperatures and a chance for wintry mix or snow will slowly return to the region. While areas of wintry mix look possible as early as Saturday for parts of Southcentral Alaska, inland regions will stay mostly dry through the weekend. However, there is still a slight chance for some snow showers as early as Sunday for Anchorage and surrounding areas.

With the incoming moisture and clouds across Southcentral, temperatures will slowly warm into the weekend. Daily highs will flirt with the mid 30s this weekend and into the first part of next. Snow chances look to stick around through most of next week, with the better opportunity arriving through the first half of Thanskgiving week. You’ll certainly want to enjoy the warmer weather, as temperatures are set to take a nosedive from Wednesday onward of next week. It’s quite possible that Thanksgiving day will see highs in the upper 10s and lower 20s across the region.

As for Southeast Alaska, the sunny skies are also set to come to an end. Overcast skies return to the region through the weekend, with widespread rain into Thanksgiving Day. Most of next week’s daily highs will hover around 40 degrees.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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