Where can I find specific weather info about Alaskan ports?
 

We are considering an Alaskan cruise in late August (the week prior to Labor Day). However, if the weather is traditionally colder, wetter and/or foggier at time than earlier in the summer....obviously we'd change to another week. Can anyone recommend a good weather website that may be able to pinpoint the best weeks to visit that area? Thanks!

Lenore,<BR>Try going to The Weather Channel. You can get to averages and records there. It's a little help at least. Just remember that this is the weather, it can change at a moments notice.

Alaska weather is UNPREDICTABLE!<BR><BR>Expect and prepare for rain whenever you go. <BR><BR>We went the last week of June/first week of July last year. It poured the entire week and was cold. The week before and the week after were &quot;beautiful&quot;. Some friends went in May last year and it was very warm. Other friends went at the end of August and it poured when they went.

We sailed Alaska the 8/30/02. While we were prepared for lots of rain and cooler temps, on our sailing we had fabulous weather - 7 days of sun and 60 to 70 degrees! From reading posts on various boards, Alaska weather is just too unpredictable. If you decide to cruise Alaska, my best suggestion is to book with the expectation of rain.

Lenore, your question needs to be more specific. Is your cruise an Inside Passage round trip, or is it a one-way starting or ending in Seward? And if so, are you planning on touring southcentral Alaska?<BR><BR>The reason for asking is that Alaska is so big that there are several quite separate climate zones, so asking &quot;what's the weather like in Alaska&quot; is just too general.<BR><BR>In Southcentral Alaska, late August to Labor day is typically a fairly dry time of the year. In SE Alaska (Juneau etc.) it can be more unpredictable and even vary from one town to another and one day to another. Come prepared for dry, warm, wet, cool, and you won't be disappointed.<BR><BR>Go to weather.com for comprehensive listings.

Thanks for your input everyone. Naturally, I had already checked the regular weather websites (which always list the average highs and lows and precipitation city by city) before I even posted this question. The summer months all have very similar weather in Seattle, Vancouver, Skagway, Ketchikan and Juneau. We would do an inside passage cruise because we want to fly into and out of the same city, plus we want to tour either Seattle or Vancouver or both before and/or after the cruise.<BR><BR>Anyway, I recall being on a website once that showed weather information by exact date. It listed historical data as well as predictions based on that data. Unfortunately, I cannot find that website after some serious searches. Obviously weather, in general, is a crap shoot. I live in FL, which is probably even more unpredicable than most areas of the country because it's a peninsula! So I understand unpredictability, but we're just trying to hedge our bet!!<BR><BR>

We sailed the Inside Passage right after Labor Day last year and had great weather except for Sitka. Mostly sunny or cloudy and in 60's most of the time during port stops. But as several have stated, the weather is way too unpredictable. You just should accept that and plan to dress in layers with some wet weather outer gear.

I have lived in Alaska for thirty years. The weather is always colder and usually wetter at the end of August.<BR><BR>The weather is usually the nicest end of May, all of June. (warmer in June). I would take the cruise in middle of June.

PATIMKIN---<BR><BR>What is weather like in July? We will come to your beautiful state via cruise starting July 18 in Vancouver, ending in Seward. It is a Hubbard's Glacier itineary and then a few days to Denali and area. I am stuck on how to dress for this summer cruise. Summer clothes in the Caribbean was far easier in the winter!! Any advise is appreciated!

I live in Anchorage, so the weather I am talking about is in southcentral Alaska. (Junea area will probably be warmer and the farther inland you get, toward Denali it will be hotter). In July the weather is still nice but it tends to rain more than June. Last year we had temps in the 80's in July, but it can get down to the 60's. You should just bring clothes that you can layer and make sure you bring rain gear just in case.