Storm system will bring high winds and flood danger to Southcentral Alaska over the weekend

Update, 6:30 a.m. Saturday: A high-wind warning remains in effect for Turnagain Arm and the Upper Hillside through 1 a.m. Sunday, with gusts to 80 mph possible. The Anchorage Bowl is expected to see gusts to 45 mph.

Original story: A weather system is expected to bring flooding, high wind and wintry weather to southern Alaska this weekend.

“It’s a big area of low pressure. It’s bringing impacts to both Southwest Alaska and Southcentral Alaska,” said Kaitlyn O’Brien, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage.

The low-pressure system was centered just south of the Alaska Peninsula on Friday morning and slowly moving northward, putting high clouds over Southcentral.

Sustained winds up to 60 mph and gusts to 80 mph are expected late Friday through early Sunday at higher elevations including the Anchorage Hillside as well as along Turnagain Arm and into Portage Valley, O’Brien said.

The Anchorage Bowl will mainly be just breezy and gusty, she said. Similarly, the Matanuska and Susitna valleys will see gusty winds but below warning levels.

Besides the wind, forecasts for the Anchorage area show a cloudy Saturday with a chance of rain, highs in the 40s and lows in the mid 30s. Rain is likely Saturday night and Sunday morning. Conditions should improve for Halloween trick-or-treating on Sunday evening.

The system is also “juicy,” O’Brien said, bringing heavy rain to towns near the Gulf of Alaska including Kodiak, Seward, Seldovia and Homer.

The forecast rain has prompted flood watches from the weather service that go into effect Friday afternoon through Monday for Anchor Point and for the Seward area, including the Resurrection River and surrounding creeks, she said.

Additionally, winter weather advisories are in effect for Southwest Alaska, with interior parts of the Bristol Bay region getting freezing rain, snow and sleet from Friday afternoon through early Sunday, O’Brien said.

The lower Kuskokwim region, north of Bristol Bay, where the air is colder, will have mostly snow with 8 to 14 inches possible, O’Brien said.