Alaskan Storm Could Bring Rain, Hail and Thunder Sunday

A cold storm system out of the Gulf of Alaska will bring cold rain to the region beginning on Sunday and lingering through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm is expected to drop snow as low as the 3,500-foot level. National Weather Service meteorologists said the storm’s unpredictability makes it hard to say when it will land and what path it may take.

But "confidence is high for a cool and showery pattern to develop across the area some time between Sunday night and Monday and persist until at least Tuesday and possibly Wednesday," according to an NWS advisory.

It said there could be isolated thunderstorms Monday and Monday night.

"Some thunderstorms may contain brief, heavy downpours, dangerous cloud- to-ground lightning, gusty and erratic winds and pea-size hail or graupel (soft hail)," according to the advisory.

The storm may produce between a quarter-inch and a half-inch of rain across coastal and valley areas, and between one and two inches in the mountains, it said.

The storm will be accompanied by a cold and unstable air mass, which will lower the snow level to near 4,000 feet between Monday night and Tuesday and possibly down to 3,500 feet in some areas, according to the NWS.

Forecasters said they're expecting four to eight inches of snowfall above 5,000 feet and up to two inches between 4,000 and 5,000 feet.

Temperature highs Monday will be about 10 degrees lower than today in most areas but more than 20 degrees lower in mountain locales.

— City News Service