Does May rain mean downpours?

[SuzieQ521]

Hello:

We are sailing in a couple weeks; first time we went to Alaska a few years ago was in mid-September and we really lucked out with the weather then.

 

I know it may be too early to know for sure but May 22 (Juneau) and May 23 (Skagway) are both showing as rainy (per Accuweather) and in both of these Ports, we have excursions planned. 

 

My Question: obviously we know to expect rain but in May, are we usually talking nonstop downpours, or is it mostly a little scattered shower here and there with breaks?

 

Thanks!

[CruiserBruce]

May is commonly referred to as the driest of the cruising months, but that doesn't mean it doesn't rain. As frequently mentioned here, the weather in Alaska is quite variable...sometimes changing several times in one day.

 

A forecast 2 weeks out is very unreliable...in Alaska its crazy.

[Eaglecw]

It’s been my experience after 17 cruises to Alaska that towards the end of May you’re going to encounter fairly decent weather. If it does rain it will only be a light shower or frizzle. Go to weather underground and look at the history of each Port, it doesn’t show a lot of rain at the end of May in the history.  

[AKStafford]

Any weather forecast for Alaska more than 36 hours out is a random guess. And many times my Accuweather app is saying sunny and it's raining. Or it says raining and it's sunny.

So here's the key to Alaska weather: hope for the best, plan for the best and have fun no matter what.

[jean87510]

10 hours ago, SuzieQ521 said:

Hello:

We are sailing in a couple weeks; first time we went to Alaska a few years ago was in mid-September and we really lucked out with the weather then.

 

I know it may be too early to know for sure but May 22 (Juneau) and May 23 (Skagway) are both showing as rainy (per Accuweather) and in both of these Ports, we have excursions planned. 

 

My Question: obviously we know to expect rain but in May, are we usually talking nonstop downpours, or is it mostly a little scattered shower here and there with breaks?

 

Thanks!

We sailed last May out of Seward and had layers and rain gear packed.  Never needed them once.  Wore shorts most of the week when not hiking.  Our captain said it was unusual for a cruise to get zero rain in AK.  But at least we were prepared.

[Kathscof]

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

We sailed last May out of Seward and had layers and rain gear packed.  Never needed them once.  Wore shorts most of the week when not hiking.  Our captain said it was unusual for a cruise to get zero rain in AK.  But at least we were prepared.

we were on Radiance (probably like you! May 27th?) and our sailing and the one before had NO RAIN the entire time (except on our cruising Inside Passage day a bit) and they said over the past 3 years only 3 sailings had had our luck....I'm preparing for much worse the same ship this year....

 

we were SWEATING to death in some places hahahaha

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, Kathscof said:

we were on Radiance (probably like you! May 27th?) and our sailing and the one before had NO RAIN the entire time (except on our cruising Inside Passage day a bit) and they said over the past 3 years only 3 sailings had had our luck....I'm preparing for much worse the same ship this year....

 

we were SWEATING to death in some places hahahaha

yep!!  Unbelievable weather.  I was like huh?  Rain?  

[Kathscof]

32 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

yep!!  Unbelievable weather.  I was like huh?  Rain?  

HAHAAHH I am setting my expectations low, and we are extending on the front end to do Denali this time, so I am definitely more prepared for cold 🙂

[Northern Aurora]

While May may be historically the driest month in SE Alaska folks still need to be prepared for rain.   Our OP also doesn't mention their ports of call.  My husband worked out of Ketchikan a number of years ago, and his memory is that they experienced rain daily with the exception of two or three days.  And we did a cruise several years ago starting in late May and extending into June.  I remember heavy rain in Juneau on that particular cruise.

[2206]

We are just finishing up our 11 day cruise on the Sapphire Princess.  Most of the days were perfect!  We were prepared for rain, but the rain came at night.  Our days were blue skies and perfect!

[Coral]

I get on the ship this Friday. When I first started looking at weather 2 weeks earlier- it looked line rain and snow. Now, it looks mostly clear.

 

In Alaska - it is difficult to predict weather more than 24-48 hours in advance. Plus, rain could mean sprinkles, downpour, horrible weather or misting.

 

Just come prepared for rain and expect the best.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Coral

[new_cruiser]

My cruise was 14 days mid-to-late May several years ago. It was cloudy almost every day but I don't recall any downpours. It was drizzly at times -  my light breathable rain shell got plenty of use, but the rain wasn't heavy enough to make trails muddy or interfere with enjoying Alaska.

 

It was glorious toward the end of our cruise when we finally had a sunny day.

[hikergirl]

We just returned from an Alaska cruise. We had beautiful weather in Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay.  It was overcast in Ketchikan and started sprinkling around 4:30 pm.  Looking at the weather before we left, we were expecting a lot more rain, so we packed rain jackets and pants. We live in Colorado where we can get 4 seasons in one day, so we know not to trust the weather forecasters!

[SuzieQ521]

4 hours ago, hikergirl said:

We just returned from an Alaska cruise. We had beautiful weather in Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay.  It was overcast in Ketchikan and started sprinkling around 4:30 pm.  Looking at the weather before we left, we were expecting a lot more rain, so we packed rain jackets and pants. We live in Colorado where we can get 4 seasons in one day, so we know not to trust the weather forecasters!

Thank you! Our cruise leaves Saturday. It appears that the cruisers this week are lucky with 70s and dry weather but it appears that the rain is supposed to return this weekend to Juneau, Skagway, GB, and Ketchikan...we will see.

 

Hoping it's not too bad.