Wind Sock in front of AB Mountain at Skagway’s airport. Photo by Mike Swasey.
Weather in the Upper Lynn Canal is never dull, this week looks tumultuous early on, then fairly typical for the rest of the week. KHNS’ Mike Swasey spoke with Rick Fritsch from the National Weather Service in Juneau on Tuesday morning to break down the forecast.
Swasey – What does the rest of the week look like for weather for us here, Rick?
Fritsch – Well, I will say that Tuesday and Tuesday afternoon is probably going to be the nicest weather for the next few days. By Wednesday morning, the thunderstorm threat will be gone, of course. But cloud cover will build back in and Wednesday’s high temperatures are only supposed to be around 60. So really, a bit of a cool down from what’s expected on Tuesday.
Wednesday afternoon, we do believe that we’re going to have a southerly small craft wind in the Upper Lynn Canal, so 25 knots there. And that’s partly due to low pressure in the Yukon and a high-pressure ridge in the eastern Gulf of Alaska, which is going to promote those stronger winds on Wednesday.
By Thursday, the winds will calm down again, but a front will approach from the west. And although the frontal precipitation is going to be focused primarily south of Haines, it’s probably going to produce some rain late Thursday night going into Friday in the Haines area, and certainly in the Upper Lynn Canal area.
Swasey – In Skagway, on Saturday we have a big outdoor event called The Blues Brews and BBQ happening all day at the Deadman stage. What’s the weather gonna be like on Saturday for us? Do you know that far in advance?
Fritsch – It looks like on Saturday, in both the Haines and Skagway area, the rain should be tapering off as you go through the day. We are still gonna have a threat of some rain both Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon, but it does definitely look like it’s on a downward trend by we get by the time we get to Saturday.
Swasey – What about wind? What about temperature?
Fritsch – The temperature is going to be in the mid to lower 60s on Saturday. And as far as wind is concerned, I don’t really think you’re going to have much in the way of wind, maybe 10 to 15 miles an hour out of the south or southeast in Haines, south to southwest in the Taiya Inlet for Skagway.
Swasey – So maybe just enough breeze to keep the mosquitoes away. Is it possible?
Fritsch – Oh, yes. Yes.
Swasey – So this week, is it going to remain kind of that low to mid-60s throughout the week or we’re going to dip down into the 50s.
Fritsch – I think we’re gonna see the mid-60s for the next week for daytime highs. And then the overnight lows are going to be a very comfortable low to mid-50s. So pretty much a 10 to 15-degree diurnal temperature spread. And those numbers are pretty typical for this time of the year. So we’re hitting the normals.
Swasey – Hitting the normals with winds picking up in the afternoon?
Fritsch – Yes, yes. And of course, late at night, very late at night, early in the morning, those drainage winds coming down the Chilkat Valley at the airport, so a northwest wind.
Swasey – All right, Rick, thank you so much for the time I appreciate it. Have a wonderful week.
Fritsch – Hey, you too. Enjoy the festival in Skagway later on this weekend.
Swasey – Oh, you bet I will.
For more details on the forecast for this week, you can visit www.weather.gov/ajk/.
