Yukon River ice flows down from the Canada portion of the river about 24 hours after the river broke up in front of Eagle, Alaska, the first U.S. town on the Yukon. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Yukon River ice flows down from the Canada portion of the river about 24 hours after the river broke up in front of Eagle, Alaska, the first U.S. town on the Yukon. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska’s big river breaks up at Eagle

The shell of ice fractured. A torrent of the cold, brown river water shoved the shards downstream.

  • By Ned Rozell
  • Friday, May 13, 2022 11:39am
  • News

By Ned Rozell

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 sheet in front of the town.

The shell of ice fractured. A torrent of the cold, brown river water shoved the shards downstream.

Some of that ice — including a football-field size spread with a snowmachine trail still imprinted on top — settled on gravel downstream of town at the mouth of Mission Creek. Most of the jigsaw pieces continued downstream, shrinking every second while exposed to relatively warm water and above-freezing air.

This year featured a gentle breakup here, with no ice-jam flooding at the town of Eagle, nor 12 miles downriver, where Andy Bassich reported all was well at his homesite. More pulses of ice were to come — like the bank-to-bank icebergs set to arrive from Dawson City a few days later — but the first stage of breakup was somewhat benign.

The Eagle townspeople were relieved as they drove their cars and trucks to Front Street to stare at a mesmerizing conveyor belt of moving ice.

A bench in the town of Eagle, Alaska, provides a Yukon River view on May 7, 2022, a few hours after the river ice broke up. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

A bench in the town of Eagle, Alaska, provides a Yukon River view on May 7, 2022, a few hours after the river ice broke up. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

“This is what we were praying for,” said Sharon Hamilton, who has lived in this town of about 110 people for many years.

In 2009, she said, her and husband Steve’s Chevy Prism then idling on Front Street would have been under a mountain of ice. That year, the worst flood in Eagle’s recorded history pushed 6-foot thick chunks into the town’s waterfront buildings, shoving some off their foundations, tethered to land by their power wires.

John Borg, who had driven his Toyota Corolla down to Front Street with his wife Betty, was also glad to see the river moving freely.

“At least it’s not sitting here backing up,” he said.

John Borg of Eagle, Alaska, looks out on the Yukon River on May 7, 2022, a few hours after the ice sheet broke up and much of the ice moved to the shore. Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

John Borg of Eagle, Alaska, looks out on the Yukon River on May 7, 2022, a few hours after the ice sheet broke up and much of the ice moved to the shore. Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Borg, who came to Eagle in the 1960s, was referring to the happy outcome that pieces from the giant fractured sheets had not stacked in a tight bend about 6 miles downstream.

When all those chunks restrict the flow of the river, water rises fast behind the barrier. Ice-jam floods occur somewhere on the Yukon’s 2,000 winding miles every spring. At the time of this writing, ice had jammed 6 miles downriver of the town of Circle, about 160 miles from Eagle.

In Eagle, as all that ice born of Alaska’s and the Yukon Territory’s cold winter air floated past, Borg overheard someone lament the fact that he had slept through the initial ice movement — the peak drama of that year’s breakup.

“After all these years of watching, I’ve never seen the (first) movement of the ice,” he said. “There’s always next year.”

• Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Nov. 3

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, speaks to members of the Senate majority caucus’ leadership group on Friday, April 12, 2024. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Education, energy and elections among priorities of Alaska Senate’s post-election agenda

Senate’s previous bipartisan majority will continue, albeit a bit smaller, after election.

A statue of William Henry Seward stands outside the Dimond Courthouse in downtown Juneau. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
Juneau man gets 18-year prison sentence for sexual abuse of a minor

Craig Foster, 63, pleaded guilty to charge involving girl between 9 and 11 years old.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, Nov. 4, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, speaks in favor of Senate Bill 48, the carbon credits bill, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in the Alaska House. At background is Department of Resources Commissioner John Boyle and staff supporting the bill. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska House control flips from predominantly Republican coalition to mostly Democratic coalition

Preliminary election results show the new House majority will have at least 22 members.

West Juneau homes on Douglas Island late Thursday afternoon. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
What will Trump as president again and a more liberal Alaska Legislature mean for Juneau?

Election appears to shake up federal and state governments in different ways, leaving lots of unknowns.

Most Read