Breakup

I have been bugged a couple of times about when breakup will be (breakup being defined as when the Tanana River goes out at Nenana, along the highway from Fairbanks to Anchorage).

For you wags, breakup is NOT about Bristol and Levi.

Here is some news on what the weather folks are expectings.  In a word, "messy."  The reason is above average ice and snow.

A handful of villages in rural Alaska face the prospect of difficult breakup this spring with possible flooding, the National Weather Service’s top hydrologist in Alaska said on Tuesday.

In much of the state, including the Fairbanks area, snowfall and the thickness of frozen ice is almost at historical averages, hydrologist Larry Rundquist said.

Points along the Kuskokwim River in Southwest Alaska could see severe breakup this year as river ice slowly melts, Rundquist said.

Breakup season could be different as well in Eagle, where ice on the Yukon River recently measured 55 inches thick, almost 40 percent thicker than usual for late March or early April, he said.

Here is a snapshot of the betting, from an interested website.

Then, there is this.

We have not gotten to breakup yet.  The earliest calendar date the ice has gone out is April 20, in both 1940 and 1998, both times in the afternoon.  That would be today.  I am guessing at least three more weeks.  I blame climate change.

The weather forecast for this week suggests snow later in the week.

Regards  —  Cliff