Winds topping 60 mph, wind chill temps of -15°F forecast through weekend

Downtown Juneau will see stronger winds, Mendenhall Valley colder temperatures down to -5°F, according to National Weather Service

A high wind warning is in effect from Thursday night to Friday morning for downtown Juneau, Douglas and Thane. (National Weather Service Juneau)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Winds topping 60 miles an hour and temperatures dropping to minus five degrees Fahrenheit are forecast through the weekend in Juneau, although the strongest winds and coldest temperatures will be in different parts of town, according to the National Weather Service Juneau.

A high wind warning is in effect for downtown Juneau, Douglas and Thane between 6 p.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday, and a Taku winds advisory for the weekend with the strongest gusts expected Saturday morning, have been issued by the weather service. A cold-weather advisory is also in effect due to wind chill temperatures of -15°F expected throughout the Juneau area.

"That could be almost anywhere," Greg Spann, a NWS Juneau meteorologist, said Thursday morning. "Downtown is going to have warmer temperatures than the Valley, but they have the strongest winds, dragging (wind chill) down. The Valley is going to have colder temperatures than downtown, but we'll have much lighter winds. In the Valley you're going to have a very strong breeze and it will also hurt like heck."

Sustained east winds of 15 to 25 mph, with gusts topping 60 mph, are expected between Thursday night and Friday morning, according to the warning. Similar conditions with northeast winds are forecast for the Taku advisory.

"High winds will blow around unsecured objects and may damage property and cause power outages," a forecast issued by NWS Juneau at about 4:45 a.m. Thursday notes. "Travel will be difficult. Frostbite and hypothermia are possible if exposed to these temperatures."

High temperatures in the teens and lows of about 10°F are forecast for downtown Juneau Thursday and Friday. At Juneau International Airport, a high of about 10°F and a low of 5°F on Thursday is expected to drop to a high of 5°F and a low of minus 5°F between Friday and Monday before temperatures begin to slowly rise again.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.