The National Weather Service continues to have a flood warning in effect for Galena until 10 pm today (Friday) due to the release of the Yuki ice jam. The jam started to break apart around 3:45 pm Thursday, and by 6:30 pm Galena saw a quick 1.5 foot spike in water levels accompanied with a dense bank to bank ice run. From midnight to 3 am, the river level at the pilings gauge rose by around 1 foot per hour, and after 3 am the rate of rise has fallen to about half a foot per hour. The 7 am reading today (Friday) was 124.8 feet, which puts Galena into minor flood at the time of this report.
At this river level, the far west end of the Galena road system is underwater, and water is pouring into Alexander Lake and most grass lakes in New Town Galena.
Above 125 feet, Tiger Freeway becomes inundated with water next to Alexander Lake, near the intersection with Louden Loop, and towards Crow Creek. Front Street in Old Town near the boat landing also has water all the way across it when the level reaches 125 feet.
It is uncertain at this time when Galena river levels will crest. But Ruby had river levels behind the Yuki ice jam that exceeded the 2023 Flood event. In 2023, Galena crested at 125.2 feet.
The flood warning means that flooding is occurring and Galena residents should take all necessary precautions to secure property and prepare to take shelter if water levels continue to rise.
There is a Flood Watch in effect until Friday evening for Ruby, Koyukuk, Nulato, and Kaltag due to the release of the Yuki jam and more water entering the river system due to daytime highs in the 60s in the middle Yukon and lower Tanana River areas. High water with flooding of low-lying areas is possible from Ruby to Kaltag on Friday.
At Bishop Mountain, the River Watch Team was in the air to observe initial ice movement there on Thursday around 5:15 pm. The ice sheet that still holding on the upriver side of the bend crumbled and got pushed through the choke point in smaller pieces. Thus the threat of a Bishop Mountain ice jam was greatly reduced on Thursday.
Behind the Yuki ice jam, Ruby experienced flood levels not seen in decades, with water getting up onto the picnic pavilion, barge landing, and Dineega Fuel depot road. The packed-in ice in front of town started moving at 12:50 pm Thursday and water dropped sharply. Before the jam released, the river level recorded on Wednesday of 42.5 feet on the Ruby slope gauge is the highest level on record for Ruby – beating the old record by just over a foot.
Tanana had a moderate ice run with plenty of open water passing the village on Thursday afternoon.
Nulato saw ice movement Thursday afternoon around 1:30. River ice had open movement in some channels while others still have ice sheets in place as of Thursday evening.
The National Weather Service still has a Flood Warning in place for Stevens Village for high water caused by snowmelt until 730 PM Friday. On Thursday afternoon, rapid snowmelt was causing continued high water flows along the Yukon River. Rapid river rises have already caused flooding near Stevens Village. As of 1PM Thursday, water was reported over the bank and coming into town. The barge landing was completely underwater.
The Middle Yukon River Watch Team plans to fly to Koyukuk, Nulato and Kaltag on Friday to access the progress of the massive ice run that has been pushing past Galena with very high water levels from Thursday night into Friday morning.
The Cutbank 