Southcentral Alaska sees coldest morning since Christmas Day

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - We’re in between storm systems in Southcentral Alaska, which is leading to a brief lull in the weather pattern. As a result of the quieter conditions, skies have cleared out and colder air has settled into the region.

The combination of clearer skies and calm winds has allowed for some radiational cooling to drop temperatures this morning to the coldest since Christmas Day. Many areas woke up to subzero and single-digit temperatures, with the warmest locations near the Gulf of Alaska. The quiet and sunny weather pattern taking hold across Southcentral will stay with us through the first part of the weekend, with temperatures expected to remain roughly 10 degrees below average.

While Southcentral will see a quiet start to the weekend, widespread rain and a wintry mix will move into Southeast Alaska. The moisture building into the region is lifting north out of the Pacific Ocean. This is part of the same system that affected the Western U.S., so there’s plenty of tropical moisture associated with the system moving into Southeast. The rain and snow will lift from south to north through the day, with the Southern Inner Channels primarily staying rainy. It’s possible that Southeast could see up to an inch of rain, while areas through the Northern Inner Channels could see a few inches of snow.

As the low moves away from Southeast and into the Gulf of Alaska, we’ll begin to see clouds returning to Southcentral. This will occur through the day Saturday, with overcast skies likely by the evening. As the moisture and clouds continue to build back into the region, late afternoon snow is likely for Southcentral before tapering off through the day Sunday. It’s possible we’ll only see light accumulations across the region.

While the active weather pattern looks to remain to our south, the push of warmer air that will arrive with Sunday’s system will stay with us. Most of next week will see highs remaining fairly seasonal in the lower 20s, with mostly cloudy skies.

Have a safe and happy weekend!

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