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Kuskokwim Breakup Front About 15 miles Upstream Of Tuluksak

National Weather Service

The Kuskokwim breakup front sits about 15 miles upstream of Tuluksak at Coffee’s Bend. Now, it’s the only front on the Middle and Upper Kuskokwim, instead of multiple minor fronts scattered along the river.

That’s according to the River Watch team’s aerial survey from 4 p.m. on Thursday. They report conditions are changing fast, and they don’t expect the front to stay in place for long. Miles of ice lie behind it, pushing and driving the front downriver.

Andy Dixon with the River Watch team says from Tuluksak downwards, the ice is holding, for now.

Credit National Weather Service
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National Weather Service
River Watch team member Andy Dixon shows the size of stranded icebergs in Aniak on May 4, 2017.

“What we found was a whole lot of ice that’s mostly still in place, but it looks really, really rotten, and there are increasing amounts of open water even in the area that hasn’t broken up yet.”

With the ice so weak and the water levels so low this spring, Dixon says jamming and flooding is unlikely. But communities should prepare for a temporary rise in water levels.

“As the breakup front moves past, the water levels come up about six feet for at least several hours as the main breakup happens.”

Far upriver, the ice is still holding at McGrath but has begun moving past Sleetmute. Dixon says there’s plenty of upriver black ice that has yet to move downstream, and boaters should stay off the water until after it passes.

Anna Rose MacArthur served as KYUK's News Director from 2015-2022.