Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Metlakatla, AK

FXAK67 PAJK 100136 AFDAJK

Southeast Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Juneau AK 436 PM AKST Sun Nov 9 2025

SHORT TERM
The first major winter storm of the season is largely behind us this Sunday afternoon, with many areas at or near sea level reporting snow, even if only briefly. Along the Icy Strait corridor, both Hoonah and Gustavus saw some minor snow accumulations early Sunday morning, primarily driven by dynamic cooling with the heavier precipitation rates. Some areas of Juneau also had a wet and slushy start to the day, primarily seen on elevated surfaces or vehicles in the Mendenhall Valley. Further north along Lynn Canal, both Haines and Skagway have yet to see a warm southerly push at the surface, therefore wet snow continues to fall. For Haines, drainage flow down the Chilkat Valley continues to keep the surface cold enough for wet snow to accumulate, with a transition to more rain then snow, or straight rain expected by this evening. A similar trend is expected for Skagway, though northerly winds there are not as strong, and therefore lower surface accumulations are expected at sea level.

Overall across the panhandle both surface winds and precipitation will be on a downward trend overnight Sunday into Monday as a quick moving ridge, serving as a buffer between systems, moves over the panhandle. This is also expected to limit northerly return flow in the inner channels ahead of the next gale force front approaching Monday afternoon into Monday night.

This next system is largely lacking in upper level support, with a deep upper level trough moving over the gulf, as well as mid level steering flow being fairly stagnant. As a result, this low is primarily expected to be on a downward trend in terms of intensity and be fairly occluded by the time it meanders into the northern gulf. However, as with this weekend storm, heavier precipitation rates may once again lead to minor snow accumulations at the surface for both Skagway and Haines Monday, while being less likely for the Icy Strait corridor this time around. Overall this storm is also expected to have much lower storm totals since it will not have as much moisture to tap into and will be weakening as it approaches. For more on what to expect through the week, see the long term discussion.

LONG TERM
As the low pressure system moves north and diminishes through Tuesday, lingering showers will bring times of light precipitation to the panhandle. Cooler temperatures and drier conditions quickly develop after Tuesday as a low pressure system moves to the south of the panhandle. This will bring weak outflow and northerly winds across the inner channels as a high develops over the Yukon. The strongest winds are anticipated to be near Skagway and Lynn Canal. Currently, strong breezes to near gales are most likely, but the gradient could increase as we get closer.

Along with stronger winds, we are going to see cooler temperatures across most of the panhandle with overnight lows getting below freezing across the panhandle Thursday night. These temperatures are nothing atypical for this time of year, but it would be the coldest some places have gotten so far this season.

Behind the week outflow, another system once again enters the gulf Friday into the weekend. This once again increases winds across the gulf and panhandle. As well, it sends moderate to heavy precipitation across the panhandle. The main question with this end of week system is what precipitation type will fall. With cold air in place, we could see accumulating snow into the central panhandle.
We will continue to monitor these upcoming systems. The stronger the outflow is, the more likely the chance for snow will be.
Show more