Weather Alerts for Alaska

Recent Locations: Paterson, NJ Garden City, ID Fairbanks, AK

1. Flood Warning for: Central Brooks Range; South Slopes Of The Central Brooks Range; Upper Koyukuk Valley; Dalton Highway Summits

2. Flood Warning for: South Slopes Of The Central Brooks Range

3. Flood Watch for: Kuskokwim Valley West; Kuskokwim Valley East; Interior Kuskokwim Delta; Northern Bristol Bay Coast; Inland Bristol Bay

4. Flood Watch for: South Slopes Of The Central Brooks Range; South Slopes of the Western Brooks Range; Upper Kobuk Valleys

5. Flood Watch for: Southern Seward Peninsula Coast; Interior Seward Peninsula; Eastern Norton Sound and Nulato Hills

6. Flood Watch for: Western Capes

7. Heat Advisory for: Prince of Wales Island; Ketchikan Gateway Borough; City of Hyder; Annette Island

8. Hydrologic Outlook for: Anchorage; Anchorage Hillside / Eagle River; East Turnagain Arm; Portage; Lower Matanuska Valley; Hatcher Pass; Sutton / Upper Matanuska Valley; Eureka / Tahneta Pass; Southern Kachemak Bay; SW Kenai Peninsula; NW Kenai Peninsula; Skilak Lake; Southern Kenai Mtns; Interior Kenai Peninsula; Turnagain Pass; West Prince William Sound & Whittier; Tyonek; Valdez; Thompson Pass; Cordova; Western Susitna Valley; Southern Susitna Valley; Central Susitna Valley; Northern Susitna Valley

9. Hydrologic Outlook for: Howard Pass and the Delong Mountains; Central Brooks Range; Noatak Valley; Lower Kobuk Valley; Northern Seward Peninsula; Lower Yukon River; Lower Koyukuk Valley; Middle Yukon Valley; Lower Yukon and Innoko Valleys; Upper Koyukuk Valley; Dalton Highway Summits; Central Interior

10. Hydrologic Outlook for: Howard Pass and the Delong Mountains; Central Brooks Range; South Slopes Of The Central Brooks Range; South Slopes of the Western Brooks Range; Noatak Valley; Lower Kobuk Valley; Northern Seward Peninsula; Upper Kobuk Valleys; Southern Seward Peninsula Coast; Interior Seward Peninsula; Eastern Norton Sound and Nulato Hills; Lower Yukon River; Lower Koyukuk Valley; Middle Yukon Valley; Lower Yukon and Innoko Valleys; Upper Koyukuk Valley; Dalton Highway Summits; Central Interior

11. Hydrologic Outlook for: Kuskokwim Valley West; Kuskokwim Valley East; Interior Kuskokwim Delta; Western Capes; Northern Bristol Bay Coast; Inland Bristol Bay

12. Hydrologic Outlook for: White Mountains and High Terrain South of the Yukon River; Upper Chena River Valley; Tanana Flats; Eielson AFB and Salcha; Goldstream Valley and Nenana Hills; Chatanika River Valley; Two Rivers; Fairbanks Metro Area; Nenana

13. Wind Advisory for: Eastern Alaska Range North of Trims Camp

14. Winter Storm Warning for: Central Arctic Plains; Central Brooks Range

15. Winter Weather Advisory for: Central Beaufort Sea Coast

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Current U.S. National Radar--Current

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National Weather Forecast--Current

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National Weather Forecast for Tomorrow

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North America Water Vapor (Moisture)

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Weather Topic: What is Rain?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Rain

Rain Next Topic: Shelf Clouds

Precipitation in the form of water droplets is called rain. Rain generally has a tendency to fall with less intensity over a greater period of time, and when rainfall is more severe it is usually less sustained.

Rain is the most common form of precipitation and happens with greater frequency depending on the season and regional influences. Cities have been shown to have an observable effect on rainfall, due to an effect called the urban heat island. Compared to upwind, monthly rainfall between twenty and forty miles downwind of cities is 30% greater.

Next Topic: Shelf Clouds

Weather Topic: What is Sleet?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Sleet

Sleet Next Topic: Snow

Sleet is a form of precipitation in which small ice pellets are the primary components. These ice pellets are smaller and more translucent than hailstones, and harder than graupel. Sleet is caused by specific atmospheric conditions and therefore typically doesn't last for extended periods of time.

The condition which leads to sleet formation requires a warmer body of air to be wedged in between two sub-freezing bodies of air. When snow falls through a warmer layer of air it melts, and as it falls through the next sub-freezing body of air it freezes again, forming ice pellets known as sleet. In some cases, water droplets don't have time to freeze before reaching the surface and the result is freezing rain.

Next Topic: Snow