Anybody in Alaska Now - 60s and 70s

I know weather can change and I"ve been to alaska before, now, I think I'm overpacking winter clothes. I'm looking at the 10 day forecast and it says 60 and 70 something degrees, Is anybody in alaska now that can help w/ the weather now or this coming week?

I'm assuming glacier bay and hopefully hubbard will be cool to cold? Has anyone made it to hubbard this year?

I'm on the Coral Princess due at Hubbard Glacier this afternoon. I'm not hopeful and think we probably won't stop. 40+ winds and heavy seas rain and low clouds at 10:30am and conditions not expected to improve. Will see if we even stop

I'm in Skagway today. It's about 50 with a light but constant rain. We had a gorgeous day in Ketchikan, and there is still snow on the mountains there. Juneau yesterday was all day rain and cold.

Just bring a good water proof ( not just repellent) jacket.

Thanks, I hope you make it to hubbard, I missed it last time, is there a lot of ice in the water?

I'm taking train to skagway, so you think there will still be snow in the mountains, I leave this coming weekend

Currently in Juneau and it's pouring. We were in Glacier Bay yesterday and spent last night there. Although there was little rain it was pretty cold. The temp was about 40, windy and cold. Mostly dry last week although that's no indication of what it will be this week. Missed Tracy Arm and diverted to Endicott Arm on Thursday. Dawes Glacier was very nice.

10 day forecasts for Alaska are worthless. 10 hour forecasts can even be unreliable.

It's 80 and sunny in Seattle and no rain is forecast for 10 days. But the mountains and ocean create their own weather, so forecasts are only good for 2, maybe 3 days ahead.

I have a few friends RV'g thru Alaska for the summer. One is currently in Juneau, camping by Mendenhall. She said it was very nice all week, low 60's, until Friday when it started to drizzle. Now it's low 50's and pouring down rain. They saw a bear in the campground yesterday afternoon .

Another just left Skagway .... decent weather., mid 50's and cloudy. They REALLY enjoyed the train. All the mountain snow really made it spectacular. They had taken the train in August previously but there was LOTS more snow this trip. They said Emerald Lake is pretty much clear of ice, just a little at the ends. They saw 3 bears during their drive around the Skagway area.

As long as you have layers, you're prepared for any weather. People tend to overpack the 'warmth' layer. You only need 2 hoodys/sweatshirts. No one will notice or care that you wore that blue hoody on Monday and Thursday. You can always pick up a 3rd as a souvenier of Alaska.

Ketchikan was sunny and ~ 60 on the 19th. Sitka yesterday and Haines today have been rainy and in the low 50s (those are the highs). Skagway tomorrow looks similarly wet! Glad I'm doing b2b cruises, as next week looks warmer and dryer. :cool: However - it is what it is.

One really good sign is that the huge deep seasonal (and cold) low pressure area that sat in the Gulf of Alaska all winter finally moved down the coast and went east allowing high pressure to build on the West Coast as it usually starts to do about now (or a little later really). Getting that low pressure area out allows the jet stream to shift north and warmer air to move up the coast. Some of the local weather people (on TV) have been saying this pattern shift could be long term. I hope so.

Gorgeous day in Seattle with warm north wind (that's the way it works here) and only thin high overcast. First 80°+ since last August.

Coral Princess made it into Hubbard yesterday afternoon, but only 7-8 miles from the Glacier. Fair amount of ice in the water but cloudy overcast sky so not a very good view. No contrast between sea, glacier and sky so lousy day for photos. Fairly cloudy today in Glacier Bay but better than yesterday. We are stopping for a while when the rangers get off to also have a medical evacuation of a passenger.

At least forecast for Skagway tomorrow looks good.

Ketchikan was sunny and ~ 60 on the 19th. Sitka yesterday and Haines today have been rainy and in the low 50s (those are the highs). Skagway tomorrow looks similarly wet! Glad I'm doing b2b cruises, as next week looks warmer and dryer. :cool: However - it is what it is.

I am happy to report that It didn't rain in Skagway today! I was on a morning bus/rail trip to Fraser, BC with Chilkoot Charters. Unlike two previous train trips first thing in the morning that were pretty foggy - our 10:15 a.m. train back to Skagway was mostly clear, and the scenery was stunning.

I'm glad I cruised last week......weather was superb!!

Well a bit of drizzle in Ketchikan but that's normal.

We are in Alaska now. Ketchikan was sunny. Haines and Sitka in the 40s and rain. Skagway cool and cloudy.

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This will give you a general idea of what is going on WX wise on in the southeast and southcentral coast of Alaska. Having flown in Alaska commercially and being dependent upon weather conditions I have witnessed considerable improvement over the years in weather forecasting due techniques, technology and enhanced data collection systems including satellites.

The first link is Southeast (Panhandle) the second is Southcentral which includes Anchorage.

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=AJK&issuedby=AJK&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=AFC&issuedby=AFC&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1

Hi, just came back. The weather up there was sunny and beautiful in Juneau, about 70. Cloudy in Skagway, cold, wet & windy in Sitka an Haines, 70 & sunny in Ketchikan, cold in Icy Strait. Had a great time on the Radiance, saw several humpbacks beside the ship several times while the ship was docked in Icy Strait, an took lots of pictures. Got home late last night, an boy am I beat, goin to bed early tonight.

Virginia

We are approaching Ketchikan today and it is cold and rainy. Also was yesterday in Juneau ( less rainy, less cloudy, warmer later in the day). Had great weather in Icy Strait Point and at Hubbard Glacier.

However I learned that looking at clouds from below is not the same as looking at the ground from the clouds! We had a terrific flightseeing and Glacier landing tour in spite of the clouds in Juneau.

Enjoy Alaska!

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Thank you to those posting weather conditions in Alaska. We will be there next week and this helps a bit with packing. I know we have to bring layers regardless, but it is useful to know how many really warm layers we will need since we are flying. We are from Wisconsin so can handle the cool weather, but I saw one review talking about down coats and it being freezing, but they never gave the actual temperatures, so I didn't know if it was someone not as used to cooler weather and I got worried I wasn't planning for enough extra warm layer(s).

Happy to hear the weather seems to keep improving and glacier access is less problematic than it was just a week or so ago. I'll be posting a very thorough review of our trip when we get home either June 19th or the 20th.

I'm currently in Sitka. Although I'm normally a cruiser, I just happened to be in town for two months for work. But I think, and act like a cruiser. I'm a cruiser at heart!. I've found that for the last 6 weeks or so, including today, June 4, I'm perfectly fine with a medium-weight jacket with a zippered front. Every so often there is a day or two where I can leave it off. But usually, I am wearing it with the zipper 1/2 open. If it's cold, I zip it all the way and have been toasty. I have never felt that I needed an extreemly warm jacket. I have with me a zippered lightweight sweatshirt that I had packed, because I envisioned wearing it underneath the jacket on cold days. I haven't needed to do that yet. I have heard from the locals, that, generally speaking, Juneau is usually colder than Sitka, where I am now. I hope that helps. On Memorial Day weekend, 2017, I did go to Juneau and it just happened to be a nice, sunny day. We took a helicopter to land on Taku Glacier, which was absolutly awsome. I used the same jacket, without sweatshirt. I did not need the gloves or beanie hat that I had brought. They stayed in my pockets. The helicopter pilot, a (95 lb?), 25 year young lady pilot, did not appear to have any gloves or hat in her posession. Her pants and her widbreaker were both of lightweight materials. FYI: If you decide to go on the helicopter: We went with ERA, and they provided us with "glacier boots" to put over our regular shoes. This is their way of making sure we had non-slip footwear. And no, you do not need insulated shoes, either. At least this time of year!

I just returned from my May 17-26 and May 26-June 2 cruises. I didn't bring a heavy jacket, but I did bring multiple lightweight jackets. Long underwear and rain pants don't take up much room in the suitcase, but they provide extra layers of warmth.

I didn't need that many layers while in port. However, spending time on the helipad while the ship was moving or in front of glaciers was windy and quite cold. That's when I wore ALL my layers - including gloves, ear warmers, hat, and the hoods on my sweatshirt and outer jacket.

For those headed to Fairbanks we have been in the 70s the past three days, and the forecast is that these highs will continue for the next several days. Desperately need rain, but none in the near future.

For easy advance weather planning: for those that have a smart phone you can add in any city using the native weather app. Even Hoonah ( for Icy Strait Point, which is very close to Glacier Bay too) and for Hubbard Glacier, try Valdez.

The iPhone weather app projects out 10 days and on the day of, it has hourly temperature / condition forecasts. I found it very accurate within the week of. Two weeks out ( from the internet) were not so accurate but only by the actual day. The trend was accurate. ( Trending sunny or cloudy? Trending warmer or cooler?)

For our 5/28-6/4 cruise, we were very fortunate that the warmer/ partly cloudy trend extended a bit longer when we were there. We had some glorious sunny days ( albeit a bit cool for my Florida skin!) Even in Juneau and Ketchikan where it was forecast cloudy all day, we ended up with breakthrough sun at the end of the day.

The worst days were the sea days- overcast and gloomy and cold. Not many balcony relaxing days for me, but my DH loved the balcony on sea days. And he even wore shorts occasionally! Me: I wish I brought more warm shirts rather than just fleece/rain jackets. I didn't need my fleece as much as I thought I would- a bit thick when a thinner sweater might have sufficed. My unlined, non-waterproofed rain jacket was fine as a wind breaker. Layers are definitely the key. And my favorite item was my Columbia waterproof boots with light fleece lining. My feet were always cozy and comfortable.

Know thyself when packing!

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75 and brilliantly sunny in Fairbanks today.

I'm glad I cruised last week......weather was superb!!

Well a bit of drizzle in Ketchikan but that's normal.

Same here -- we were on the Coral last week and weather was very pleasantly warmer than expected. The usual rain in Ketchikan. Had a beautiful day in Yakutat Bay, some cloudiness in Glacier Bay, cold as usual.

While The land portion was sunny and warm, the ship ports have not been. I am SO glad in ultimately Did put a down jacket into my suitcase. I've needed that along with lighter jackets as layers plus hoods, hats and gloves.