Weather

Forecasts and Current Conditions

Glacier Bay has a maritime climate, heavily influenced by ocean currents. The result is mild winters and cool, moist summers near sea level. Summer visitors can expect highs between 50 and 60 degrees F (10 to 15 degrees C). Winter temperatures rarely drop into the single digits, with average nighttime lows of 25 to 40 degrees F (-2 to 5 degrees C). Bartlett Cove receives about 70 inches of precipitation annually. You may find yourself thinking it’s all coming down during your visit! Good rain gear is essential here. April, May and June are usually the driest months of the year. September and October tend to be the wettest.

Keep in mind, these are weather conditions at sea level. Up in the mountains, conditions are more severe with colder temperatures and precipitation that takes the form of snow. At any elevation, be sure and dress appropriately and be aware that the risk of hypothermia is present at any time of year. But do remember - it’s all that rain and snow falling year after year that creates the lush forests and magnificent glaciers we love to see!

 

Weather Forecast

• Glacier Bay / Gustavus Airport
  • National Weather Service (NWS) forecast for Gustavus Airport. For precise/custom forecast location, utilize the inset map and "Click map to change the forecast location." Clicking on a waterway will offer a marine forecast.
  • Glacier Bay/Southeast Alaska NWS Forecast Discussion
• Juneau
• Yakutat

Marine Forecast

• Glacier Bay Marine
• Icy Strait Marine
• Cross Sound/Cape Spencer Marine
• Southeast Alaska Marine Zone

 

Current Weather Observations (Weather Station Links)

• Gustavus Airport
• National Weather Service Interactive Map with Weather Stations
• Bartlett Cove Fuel Dock
• Lone Island
• Queen Inlet (West Arm)
• Lower Nunatak (East Arm/Muir Inlet)
• Upper Nunatak (East Arm/Muir Inlet)
• Sisters Island (Icy Strait)
• Gustavus Forelands (Nature Conservancy Station)

• Find additional weather station data on the MesoWest website
  • The data represented here should match the National Weather Service data above, but with different options for graphing and history.

Weather Cams

• National Park Service-Bartlett Cove Webcams (Currently Offline - 2025)
• Gustavus Dock Webcam: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Weather Cameras

 

Tides and Currents

• Bartlett Cove Tides
• Icy Strait/Point Adolphus Tides

 

July 27, 1890. All...day it rained. The mountains were smothered in dull-colored mist and fog, the great glacier looming through the gloomy gray fog fringes with wonderful effect. It is bad weather for exploring, but delightful nevertheless, making all the strange, mysterious region yet stranger and more mysterious.

—John Muir, at the face of Muir Glacier

Image credit: Helen Lukens Gaut, US Library of Congress