Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Nome, AK

KEY WEATHER MESSAGES

Central and Eastern Interior...
- Clearing skies and predominantly dry conditions are expected for the week ahead.

- Highs will be in the low single digits, with some areas staying below 0 degrees.

- Colder temperatures continue to build in mid to late week as highs drop to the single digits above and below zero with widespread lows below zero. Coldest spots could see lows drop into the double digits below zero.

West Coast and Western Interior...
- Snow chances will continue across the YK-Delta, St. Lawrence Island, and Norton Sound coastal areas through the morning hours.

- Conditions remain dry across the Western Interior with clearer skies supporting areas of dense fog/low stratus and cold temperatures.

- Dry conditions return later today along the West Coast outside of isolated snow showers further south, ahead of another front building into Southwest Alaska Wednesday into Thursday with another round of snow and breezy winds.

- Highs in the teens and 20s with lows in the single digits above and below zero and teens. Warmer conditions on St. Lawrence Island with highs in the 20s and 30s with lows in the 20s.
Temperatures trend colder overall midweek.

North Slope and Brooks Range...
- Light snow continues across the North Slope and Eastern Brooks Range today throughout the day. Additional accumulations through up to around 1-3", locally higher across the NE Arctic Coast.

- Northeast winds prevail along the Arctic Coast through midweek, strongest further west from Utqiagvik to Point Hope.

- Dry conditions return region wide tomorrow night into Wednesday as a colder and drier airmass settles in overhead.

- Highs early this week in the teens and 20s across the Arctic Coast and single digits and teens for the Arctic Plains and Brooks Range, with lows in the single digits and teens to below zero further inland.

- Colder temperatures continue to build in mid to late week as highs drop mostly to the single digits above and below zero with widespread lows below zero. Coldest spots could see double digit below zero lows.

FORECAST ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
The broad troughing that has been dominating across the state is looking to move out and set up a more benign pattern with scattered areas of energy and less pronounced systems. Looking over the West Coast, a low continues to spin just off of the coast of the YK-Delta. Which will continue to provide snow showers for the YK-Delta through throughout the day. As the day progresses, this energy will become elongated in a NW-SE orientation as a ridge pushes east. A shortwave feature will begin to move NE from the Aleutians, behind the newly developed elongated band. This shortwave will bring the next front to the YK-Delta coast by Wednesday afternoon. The front will not be able to move across the Interior as low pressure will begin to build up and move W/SW from the eastern Brooks Range. This low that will move across the Interior will set up E-NE flow across the Brooks Range, including scattered snow showers and colder temperatures. This will also provide scattered low lying clouds across the Interior at times, which may limit some of the cooler temperatures from developing.
Some light snow showers may be possible along the Dalton Highway Summits and northwest Interior Wednesday night into Thursday.

To add on, an Arctic high will continue to build up and move SW towards Siberia mid week. This, along with the low over the Interior, will result in a gradual increase in the east winds over the NW Arctic coast beginning Wednesday afternoon. The strongest winds are expected to develop over the Lisburne Peninsula by Thursday afternoon.

.EXTENDED FORECAST DAYS 4-7...
Global models continue to show good agreement at the start of the extended with a broad area of low pressure across the state.
Models continue to show the likelihood for a coastal system to move across the Aleutians and into the southern Bering Sea by the end of the weekend. However, the Canadian brings this system across the Aleutians almost 18 hours ahead of the other global models. Comparing to previous runs, all of the models are still having trouble getting a handle on the exact positioning. This low will bring the next best chance for snow showers across the Central Interior Sunday into Monday.

Looking farther north over the North Slope, another low will be moving E to W across the Arctic coast around the end of the weekend. The EC stands out amongst others as the faster solution.
These two lows will create gusty easterly winds across the West Coast and NW Arctic Coast, beginning Sunday afternoon, with potential gusts up to 45 mph.

Coastal Hazard Potential Days 3 and 4...None

AFG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
AK...None.
PK...Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ811.
Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ812-813-858-859.
Small Craft Advisory for PKZ817-854.
Small Craft Advisory for PKZ851.
Heavy Freezing Spray Warning for PKZ857.