Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Yakutat, AK

PREV DISCUSSION
ISSUED AT 300 PM AKDT Mon Jun 8 2026...

SYNOPSIS...

Key Messages:

- Rain showers diminish through Monday night across the panhandle.

- Partly to mostly sunny skies and warmer temperatures are expected for Tuesday. Temperatures look to reach mid to upper 60s across the panhandle. Sea breezes will pick up through midday.

- Chances of rain return Wednesday concentrated mainly to the southern and central panhandle.

SHORT TERM
/Monday Through Wednesday/
A fairly quiet weather pattern continues across SE AK, as a broad area of decaying low pressure over the Gulf keeps moisture and chances of rain across the southern and central panhandle. The best chances for precip remain anchored across the south, although occasional light showers will continue rotating across the Icy Strait Corridor southward through the evening hours. By daybreak on Tuesday, PoP chances will be largely confined to the far south, and even these will be on the lower side. As the decaying low moves E, and better offshore flow is established along its northern flank, anticipate skies will at least partially clear out for much of the area, paving the way for high temperatures to build back into the 60s, with 70s not out of the question for some locations. A weak shortwave pushing through on Wednesday will brings some chances of rain back for the area, but nothing substantial in the way of accumulation is expected. Drier weather is possible for the end of the week before the potential for a stronger system arrives for the weekend. For additional information, see the long term forecast discussion.

Winds will remain generally moderate for the north and central panhandle, barring sea breezes. Winds diminish across the southern panhandle through Tuesday, while 15-20 kt winds will linger for the Icy Strait Corridor northward as sea breeze influences take hold across the inner channels, with even some land-based areas (especially Skagway) seeing stronger winds at times as a result. For additional information, see the marine forecast discussion.

LONG TERM
/Thursday through Saturday/
An area of lower pressure in the upper levels looks to move across the panhandle on Thursday, putting a damper on most of the active atmospheric forcing across the panhandle. Winds aloft look to be extremely light with off shore flow directions, which is likely to dry out the panhandle through the day. This trend of diminishing precipitation is then followed by clearing skies through the day Friday as a strong upper level ridge takes its place over the panhandle. This ridge building in, and an upper level low, then aims a strong jet at the northern gulf coast. Models are indicating a plume of moisture associated with this this jet, which looks to bring rain back to the northern panhandle on Saturday. The exact position and magnitude of this upper level jet and the moisture associated with the surface low still have strong spread between models, but the current thinking is Yakutat will get receive moderate rainfall, with precipitation chances falling as you move south down the panhandle on Saturday.

Winds through the period look to be relatively calm due to an east/west gradient that takes hold of the panhandle. There is potential for sea breezes on Friday due to clearer skies allowing more daytime heating. The threat moves in as the low pressure system in the western gulf builds in, bringing stronger winds to the northern outer coast of the panhandle. Winds look to build Friday night and continue through the day Saturday. Confidence is high that winds in the gulf could reach 20kts sustained with gusty candidness. Local forcing, like the coastal jet, could cause winds to build even higher.

AVIATION
/Through 00z Wednesday/
VFR conditions continue for most of the panhandle this evening as the clouds around the area remain around 4,000 to 6,000 ft with the exception of a few locations reporting lower. One area that has been lower than the rest has been Sitka which dropped down to IFR conditions earlier but appears to be improving back up to MVFR. Some light showers still persist across the central and southern panhandle. These showers have occasionally brought ceilings down to MVFR conditions but ceilings promptly rebound after the shower has moved away.
Heading into this evening, more clearing across the northern panhandle down to the Icy Strait corridor remains likely. One concern with this clearing is the potential for seeing some patchy fog develop. This is reflected in the Yakutat TAF but will also need to be watched elsewhere for any development during the overnight hours.

MARINE...
Gulf(Gulf and Coastal Waters): As of Monday afternoon, ASCAT/AMSR2 wind passes highlight winds below 25 knots, with coastal buoys reporting ESE moderate breezes along the Fairweather Grounds. Sea state is a combination of southerly swell of 16 seconds at 2 ft and southeasterly fresh seas 7 to 8 seconds at 6 to 8 ft. Fresh seas will slowly subside this evening, allowing the southerly swell to continue to flourish.
Tuesday a ridge begins to build across the eastern Gulf, with northwest winds building to near 15 to 20 knots into the midweek.
Highest winds along Cape Decision and western Prince of Wales coast. South ground swell near 16 to 19 seconds at 3 ft will move in Thursday. Deep water significant wave heights remain below 6 ft through the week.

Areas of gale force to near-gale force winds and seas near 14 ft are likely along our coast this weekend.

Inside (Inner Channels): Monday afternoon surface observations across the inside are showing winds less than 20 knots, except for Taiya Inlet. One excellent report was from the vessel David B via the Marine Exchange of Alaska, giving us some insight into the upper arms of Glacier Bay. Moving through the next few days, diurnal sea breezes become the primary threat. Mariners navigating northern Lynn Canal should be aware of afternoon winds reaching moderate to fresh breezes (11 to 21 knots). For folks heading into Glacier Bay’s Bartlett Cove, be aware of southwesterly winds near 15 knots coming out of Icy Strait Tuesday afternoon.

AJK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
PUBLIC...None.
MARINE...None.