Bristol Bay is bracing for some gnarly winter weather forecast to hit on Friday.
The National Weather Service issued an advisory from 1 a.m. to 5 p.m. Meteorologist Brandon Lawson said the advisory is specifically for blowing snow, and the Dillingham area could receive up to 6 inches.
“Essentially we’ve got an Aleutian low generally tracking east right along the Aleutian chain and it’s going to bring a front through the interior Bristol Bay area,” he said.
The weather will be generally dry Thursday, and precipitation will start late Thursday night. The heavier snow will start around 3 a.m. and linger through Friday afternoon.
“With the front, there’s going to be east-northeasterly winds — sustained winds anywhere from 20 to 25 miles per hour but you could see gusts up to as high as 40 miles per hour," Lawson said. "So that combined with the expected snow, we’re really going to have some reduced visibility through much of the day tomorrow.
Those winds could also bring the windchill down to as low as -25 degrees — at least through the first half of the day on Friday.
“Obviously with the overnight lows coming up tonight into the morning hours tomorrow, the temperatures are still going to be in the single digits or just below zero," he said. "It’s kind of going to be interesting to see how far down the temperatures go, because once you get the winds to pick up and the increasing clouds as well as the increasing precipitation.”
Lawson said it's likely the temperatures will drop to as low as -10 tonight, and the wind could bring the windchill down to that -25 degree low tomorrow. The National Weather Service says that could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes. They also say people should be careful when driving tomorrow, but visibility should improve by Friday afternoon.
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