EAGLE, ALASKA — While most of the town was sleeping, the ice slipped out. Breakup happened on the Yukon River here at its first settlement in the United States at around 2 a.m. on Saturday, May 7, 2022. That’s when meltwater rushing from side creeks into the colossal groove of the Yukon lifted a winter-hardened […]
Andy Bassich lives on the south bank of the Yukon River, about 12 miles downstream from Eagle, Alaska, the first community in America along the largest waterway in Alaska. Like all of the few thousand people who live along the big river in Alaska, Bassich hopes that river ice formed by the cold air of […]
Following the warmest March Alaskans have ever felt, forecasters are predicting a mellow transition from ice to water for most big rivers in the state. Things don’t always go that way during spring breakup, when chunks of river ice freed from the cold grip of winter can lock up in river bends and back […]
JBER, AK – The State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHS&EM) is assisting communities in preparation for breakup along Alaska’s major river systems this spring. Breakup is a time of both excitement and anxiety. Residents anticipate the ability to travel along the rivers, but are also concerned with the threat that […]