Katmai weather,
live right now

Peak activity is during the salmon run, roughly late June through September, with July being the most spectacular as dozens of brown bears gather at Brooks Falls to catch sockeye salmon leaping upstream. A second peak comes in September as bears fatten before hibernation. Through winter the bears den and the cam is quiet. The cam runs on Alaska time (AKDT/AKST), so check the local hour — bears fish actively around the clock during peak season thanks to the long northern daylight.

Katmai has a cool, wet subarctic maritime climate. Summers are mild — typically 10-18°C — and often grey, rainy, and windy, even at the height of the salmon run. Winters are long, cold, and snowy, with temperatures well below freezing. There is no truly warm season. The weather can change fast, sweeping in off the Gulf of Alaska, which is part of what makes the live cam so atmospheric: you see the real, raw Alaskan conditions in real time.

The cameras are on the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, southern Alaska, roughly 460km southwest of Anchorage. The most famous angle is Brooks Falls, where bears catch salmon mid-leap. The area is true wilderness — no roads lead there; rangers and researchers reach it by float plane. The cams are run in partnership between the National Park Service and explore.org, bringing one of the planet's great wildlife spectacles to anyone with a screen.

The Katmai cams are focused on the river and the bears, and most activity is during the bright summer months when nights are short and the aurora is hard to see. However, the cam beautifully captures Alaskan weather — rain sweeping the river, mist on the spruce, the first autumn snow on the surrounding peaks. For the changing seasons and dramatic northern skies, the shoulder months of September and early October are the most visually striking.