@AlaskaWx I learn something new every day! Never heard it before I saw it mentioned in the special weather statement. That's a good reason to read the fine print on forecasts.
Just another Alaskan, loving my life in the SE with all the wonderful rain in Sitka! (Seriously - rain - I love it!) I work for the State of Alaska in a nonpartisan capacity, so there won't be politics on my feed, but I am a political junkie IRL. I love growing things, taking pictures of things growing, being on my partner's commercial trolling boat, and did I mention I love taking pictures? Former New Mexican, former English teacher. (Yes, I will die on the hill of the Oxford comma.)
@AlaskaWx I learn something new every day! Never heard it before I saw it mentioned in the special weather statement. That's a good reason to read the fine print on forecasts.
5:30AM: 48F, mostly cloudy.
The glorious gloom has finally arrived!
It rained steadily throughout the night (or at least it was raining those times I woke up.) We have an atmospheric river coming in Wed. Gloom squared!
I also learned that IVT stands for Integrated Water Vapor Transport: A measure of the total amount of water vapor being transported through a vertical column of air.
The IVT value is high for midweek.
No walkies for me!
@AlaskaWx @seachanger Casual observation (mine) backed up with science!
May has been a very rainy month in Southeast Alaska, with most places seeing 1.5 to 3 times normal rainfall through the first 25 days of the month. Quite variable elsewhere, though very little data in western Alaska. Base graphic from the NOAA funded High Plains Regional Climate Center with some modifications for data QC. #akwx #Climate #Spring2025 @SilverSalmonAK @seachanger
6:00AM: 49F, mostly cloudy.
The heavy rain is taking its own sweet time getting here. Evidently it's now slated for this afternoon, then heavy for the next few days..
I will hold out hope and take my (vacation day!!!) walk this morning...just in case.
@SmudgeTheInsultCat So much this.
@AlaskaWx Thank you SO MUCH! Perfect!
@AlaskaWx Sometimes there are warm currents that push in various places around Sitka for a day or two and 2 degrees warmer can make a lot of difference to fish. More importantly, if they stay around and/or bite. The Edgecumbe buoy only gives information in that one place. Is there such a thing as ocean temp maps (like the one you showed) but accessible on a daily basis?
@AlaskaWx Is there a way for layman (like fisher folk) to get ocean surface temp data that's current? There are two buoys out around Sitka so we're really fishing blind at times.
@EyeOnAlaska Seeeeriously!
7:00AM: 49F, Overcast.
It was cloudy and windy yesterday for Porch Fest 2025. (Evidently the "real" rain is coming tonight.)
Not a big turnout and a bit more subdued than years past, although I was able to re-up my Sitka Conservation Society membership and get this bitchin' new t-shirt.
Score!
6:00AM: 51F, cloudy.
The forecast is calling for unseasonably heavy winds and rain midweek for the southern panhandle.
What struck me was "unseasonably."
With the climate crisis is there any such thing anymore?
@ScoterD Cool! I remember those days of lesson-planning and creating. The last thing I did was a Jenga set with literature questions (Who is the protagonist, name one area of foreshadowing, etc.) The questions ranged from easy to "let me think a while." So, as you pulled and relocated, hopefully you learned something! lol
6:00AM: 50F, mostly cloudy.
The forecast for the next week, every day, all day:
Rain.
That's it. That's my post.
OK - one more thing: Happy days are here again!
6:00AM: 42F, sun peeking through.
I was set to declare sandal weather has arrived. I wore sandals (without socks, I'm not a footwear heathen) for the first time Tuesday. All went well. I wore them again yesterday and darn near froze my little tootsies off.
Sandal wearing = caveat vestitus.
In other news, the waters of Sitka are under a marine weather statement: we have a gale coming this weekend.
5:45AM: 45F, just started raining.
Calm-ish winds for a couple of days, which is good news for anyone attempting to catch some kings. This is the time for various areas being open for fishing a couple three days, then closing again. All leading up to "go fish wherever ye will" on July 1st.
A different view of Sitka, with our white-knuckle runway (of which there are many in AK), the bridge between Baranof & Japonski Islands, then those mountains that dwarf everything. #Alaska #Sitka #mountains
6:00AM: 49F, cloudy. It's been raining, but it's paused right now.
We have clouds in the forecast, rain-ish toward the end of the week.
I just realized next weekend is Memorial Day and, since the legislative session will be over (one assumes), I'll have a 3 day weekend. It looks like rain too! yay!
When the legislature is in session, no holidays are observed so I work on President's Day, MLK Day, etc., so this is always my first holiday observance.
5:45AM: 45F, looking out the window, I'm going with partly sunny.
The sun folks are having a few days of bliss around here.
That's fine. I can be magnanimous! After what seemed like weeks and weeks of rain, I agree it's time for a bit of sun.