Kodiak

A broad upper trough remains over Alaska with a couple of lows rotating through the trough.  While the primary of these lows near Kodiak is weakening, mostly cloudy conditions are still likely for most of southern Alaska.  Another weak low is moving north toward the SE Panhandle.  To the west of the trough is a weak ridge.  East of the ridge axis over the Bering Sea and far western Alaska, dry, sunny and cool weather is expected today. Rain will fall in SE with highs in the 40s and 50s.  Isolated showers this afternoon will increase to scattered showers tonight in Southcentral.  Highs ranging from the upper 40s in PWS to low 60s. Mostly cloudy and showery with isolated thunderstorms in the Interior will keep highs in the 60s, although Fort Yukon may top out near 70. Expect 40s and 50s along the west coast with mostly sunny skies.

On the back lot of Kodiak College, there's an unexpected reunion between a former fisherman and the vessel he once used to make his living. “You know it's kind of funny, I'm back finishing what I started over 20 years ago,” said Brian Johnson, as he carefully examined the bow of an aging fishing boat housed inside a white plastic temporary building. Johnson thought he was done with the Thelma C, the salmon seiner he bought in 1991 and later sold, because like a lot of vessels her age she was just too much work.

Alaska is about to get a boost of wind power. Project planners in both Kodiak and Anchorage are preparing for a busy summer of wind turbine construction. On a breezy day, the community of Kodiak gets just under 10% of its power from three turbines atop Pillar Mountain, which rises high above downtown. The Kodiak Electric Association says the project has proven that wind energy is a reliable way to power homes and businesses on the island and so come September, if all goes as planned, there'll be three more turbines churning in the sea air. “In the first 2 and a half years of operation, (the project)

It's been more than a month since a gunman opened fire inside a Coast Guard communications station in Kodiak, killing two men. A lot of people hoped there'd be some answers by now as to who is responsible, or at least whether or not that person is still roaming the island. But the FBI, which is the lead agency investigating the crime, is saying very little. Immediately following the double homicide, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that she had directed the full resources of her department to support the investigation into the shooting.

FBI and Coast Guard investigators want to speak with anyone in Alaska who may have sold, traded or transferred several models of .44-caliber revolver during the last year, in connection with last month's double homicide at a Coast Guard communications station on Kodiak Island. In a press release Tuesday, FBI spokesperson Eric Gonzales mentions three revolver types of interest: Smith and Wesson Models 29 and 629, as well as any .44 magnum Taurus model. The information is being sought in the April 12 shootings of Coast Guardsmen Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Petty Officer Richard Belisle.

Roughly 120 volunteers in Kodiak showed up to search for evidence Wednesday near the communications station where two Coast Guard members were shot and killed April 13, the FBI said. Radio station KMXT said the search for a gun, clothes, boots, plastic bags or anything that looked out of place, in an area along Anton Larsen Bay Road, didn't produce any results. A post, which originally appeared on the Coast Guard Kodiak Facebook page and has since been taken down, requested 100+ volunteers to meet at 8 a.m. for the search, which was expected to be completed before noon.

TheU.S. Coast Guardhas been making a splash in Alaska lately ... only not so lately. The Coast Guard 17th District has been a regular presence all over the state, as would be expected in a state with so much water. The 17th District has been a regular presence in the media since last year, both in news and entertainment. The Coast Guard launched an unprecedented rescue this winter to clear the way for fuel to reach the iced-off city of Nome. The mission made national headlines, and bloggers tracked every move as the Coast Guard vessel Healy cleared a path through the ice through the Bering Sea so the Russian tanker Renda could deliver more than 1 million gallons of fuel.

The FBI is seeking more information about a vehicle that may have been involved in the fatal shootings of two Coast Guard members earlier this month in Kodiak. According to FBI spokesperson Darrin Jones, investigators want to hear from anyone who saw a blue 2001 Honda CR-V near Mile 2 of Anton Larson Bay Road on Thursday, April 12 between 7 a.m. and 7:18 a.m. “The vehicle may have been parked along the roadway, or partially hidden behind a building or other obstruction in a fashion that it could have observed vehicles passing on the roadway,” officials wrote Wednesday.

An upper ridge of high pressure is taking shape over the Bering and will continue to build into mainland Alaska today.  Mostly to partly sunny skies will be widespread---the Interior, West, Southwest, and Southcentral regions of the state will get generous doses of sun with above-normal temperatures. Southeast is contending with a weak upper trough and associated surface disturbance over the Gulf.  Clouds and isolated showers are back for today.  40s and 50s are expected for highs.  Periods of sun will mix in with the cloud cover for some areas.