A gale warning hits Bristol Bay and Aleutian waters Wednesday, with a second storm right behind

Mariners in Bristol Bay, the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian waters should brace for rough conditions Wednesday. The National Weather Service in Anchorage has issued a gale warning for west winds topping 34 knots — gusting past 40 mph over exposed waters — with seas building as high as 11 feet as a front moves through. A small craft advisory takes effect Tuesday night ahead of it.

And there's more behind it: forecasters are tracking a strong low off the Kamchatka coast that's expected to swing near St. Lawrence Island by Friday, driving rising winds and 1 to 2 inches of rain across parts of Southwest Alaska into the weekend. A similar Bering Sea storm in July pushed 9-to-13-foot waves onto the northern Bristol Bay coast with gusts to 45 mph, during peak fishing season.