THE WEATHER BEAT · OCT 19

An atmospheric river reaches Southeast Alaska: Flood Watch for Juneau, Gustavus and Yakutat, with gusts to 55 mph and snow on the Anchorage Hillside

The Gulf of Alaska low that brought Interior snow now aims rain at the Panhandle: up to 7 inches at Yakutat, 2 to 3 at Juneau, through Tuesday.

By the Weather Rock October 19, 2026, 9:13 p.m. · 6 min read

Juneau and the Gastineau Channel, Alaska — The Gastineau Channel seen from the Juneau-Douglas Bridge, with downtown Juneau on the left and Douglas Island on the right, photographed on 4 August 2009. Photo: Wknight94, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. This crop carries the same licence.

Key points

NWS Juneau put out a Flood Watch for Juneau, Gustavus, Yakutat, Glacier Bay, Elfin Cove and Pelican, running from 10 p.m. AKDT Monday through late Tuesday night, as an atmospheric river reaches the northern Alaska Panhandle.
Yakutat is expected to get the most rain: 4.5 to 7.0 inches between Monday morning and Tuesday evening, and more than 9 inches above 1,000 feet. Juneau's forecast was trimmed to 2 to 3 inches.
Wind advisories cover Juneau, Sitka, Haines, Skagway and Yakutat, with gusts up to 55 mph. On the other side of the same storm, the Anchorage Hillside and Eagle River are under a Winter Weather Advisory for 6 to 12 inches of snow.

Since the weekend we have followed this storm from the Interior, where it has been a snow story. Fairbanks is on a watch, and the Eastern Alaska Range is under warnings for 2 to 3 feet. Tonight the same Gulf of Alaska low is reaching the Panhandle, and there it is a rain and wind story.

At 3:22 p.m. AKDT Monday, the Juneau office of the National Weather Service issued a Flood Watch. It describes "an atmospheric river, currently over the Yakutat area" that is expected to continue through Tuesday. The watch names the communities in its path: Yakutat, Elfin Cove, Pelican, Gustavus and Juneau. It warns that "prolonged periods of moderate to heavy rain will produce significant river rises with the potential for at least minor flooding in Juneau and Gustavus." Along the outer coast near Elfin Cove and Pelican, it adds that isolated landslides are possible on steep terrain.

The office's own discussion, written at 4:32 p.m., says where the rain is heading. Yakutat had already begun to see "heavier rain rates of 0.2 to 0.3 inches per hour." The latest model runs pushed Yakutat's totals up and Juneau's down, "as the heaviest rain looks to stay over the Yakutat area for longer." The forecaster wrote that amounts in Yakutat Bay at elevation could top 10 inches.

The wind comes in two parts. Southeast winds increase overnight and peak through midday Tuesday. Then a sharp cold front crosses the Panhandle from Yakutat to Ketchikan on Tuesday afternoon and turns the wind westerly, "with strong gusts of at least 40 mph along the leading edge." The discussion also says what the office decided not to do. It moved Skagway down to an advisory, because the pressure pattern "does not look to lend itself toward 60 mph or greater wind gusts at this time." It left Petersburg and Wrangell out, because it expects the front to break apart before it reaches them. It also mentions isolated thunderstorms behind the front along the northeast Gulf Coast, which this coast rarely sees.

Up in Anchorage, the snow is expected to start late Monday evening once temperatures drop to freezing. The advisory notes that totals at lower elevations are uncertain and "will depend on how snow levels change over time."

Place	Product	Expected	When (AKDT)
Yakutat	Flood Watch	4.5 to 7.0 in rain, over 9 in above 1,000 ft	10 p.m. Mon to late Tue night
Elfin Cove, Pelican	Flood Watch	3 to 4 in rain, over 6 in above 1,000 ft	10 p.m. Mon to late Tue night
Gustavus, Glacier Bay	Flood Watch	2 to 4 in rain, more on southwest-facing mountains	10 p.m. Mon to late Tue night
Juneau	Flood Watch	2 to 3 in rain, more at elevation	10 p.m. Mon to late Tue night
Haines, Skagway	Special Weather Statement	1.5 to 3.5 in rain	Mon night through Tue
Juneau, Glacier Bay, Chichagof	Wind Advisory	gusts to 50 mph	9 p.m. Mon to 4 a.m. Wed
Yakutat	Wind Advisory	gusts to 55 mph	until 10 p.m. Tue
Skagway	Wind Advisory	gusts to 50 mph	1 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tue
Sitka, Admiralty Island	Wind Advisory	gusts to 50 mph	1 a.m. Tue to 4 a.m. Wed
Anchorage Hillside, Eagle River	Winter Weather Advisory	6 to 12 in snow	10 p.m. Mon to 10 p.m. Tue

*Sources: NWS Juneau Flood Watch (3:22 p.m. AKDT), Wind Advisories (1:35 p.m. AKDT), Special Weather Statement (12:05 p.m. AKDT) and Area Forecast Discussion (4:32 p.m. AKDT); NWS Anchorage Winter Weather Advisory (1:34 p.m. AKDT), all October 19, 2026.*

Alaska Marine Highway: Approaching Yakutat, Alaska — Yakutat, Alaska, seen from an Alaska Marine Highway ferry on its approach, photographed on 19 June 2012. Photo: Eli Duke from Portland, OR, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. This crop carries the same licence.

Elsewhere

Tropical Storm Trudy, which ran along Mexico's west coast as a hurricane on Sunday, had weakened to 40 mph by the National Hurricane Center's advisory 26 at 2 p.m. MST. It was nearly stationary about 160 miles west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes, with no coastal watches or warnings in effect, and is forecast to become post-tropical by Tuesday. In the East, the clear, calm night led offices from Louisville to Charleston, West Virginia to mention patchy frost in sheltered valleys. NWS Baltimore/Washington issued a Frost Advisory for Orange, Culpeper, southern Fauquier and Prince William counties in Virginia for 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Tuesday.

This is a summary of official warnings, not emergency information. For live warnings see weather.gov and your local officials. Juneau forecast office: https://www.weather.gov/ajk/

The rock's live forecast for the places in this story