The ice officially went out on the Tanana River on 27 April at 5:18am.
Another year; another breakup.
Category Archives: Alaska
First Sign of Gaining Daylight
Friday, January 19th, was the first day since autumn, that I noticed light still in the sky when I drove home. It wasn’t much, and it didn’t last long, but it was there! Granted, I actually left work on time, but I’m counting the sighting as a moral win.
Our current length of day is 5 hrs, 40 mins, with length of visible light at 7 hrs, 53 mins.
That’s the good news.
As I type this, it it -28F outside, with a low tonight of -38F. The high on Monday is alleged to be -30F. Luckily, the temperature on Monday night should only drop down to -34F. 
You may now go back to griping about your weather in the Lower 48.
Alaska Day
On this date in 1867, the then territory of Alaska was transferred to the United States from the Russian Empire.
The Alaska Territorial Legislature made it a state holiday in 1917.
The official celebration in the state takes place in Sitka, which was the capital of the territory during Russian occupation. Sitka was the location of the official transfer, and Fort Sitka was the site of the flag lowering and raising ceremony.
There is an 11 hour time difference between Sitka, Alaska and St Petersburg, Russia.
Going Dark
As of Thursday, Fairbanks has lost 11 hours, 41 minutes and 54 seconds of daylight since the Summer Solstice.
We will lose another 6 hours, 22 minutes and 13 seconds between now and the Winter Solstice.
Life in the North.
Juneau Jökulhlaup
Since 2011, outburst floods from the glacial-dammed lake at Suicide Basin have been released into Mendenhall Lake and subsequently the Mendenhall River. The record setting flood of 2016 was at 11.99 feet. Flood stage is at 9′.
That record was broken this weekend, when the flood waters burst from Suicide Basin. The water level crested at 14.97 feet. Several homes along the river had the bank cut out from under them, with at least one collapsing into the rushing current.
It was estimated that water was flowing at 20,900 cubic feet per second down the Mendenhall River.
The Katmai Cluster
We have had a lot of volcanic activity in Alaska this year. We currently have six volcanos at an elevated alert level of either Code Yellow or Code Orange.
None are more intriguing to me than the newest member of Code Yellow: Trident Volcano in Katmai National Park. Trident is a member of what is known as The Katmai Cluster. In addition to Trident, the cluster includes Mount Katmai, Mount Mageik, Mount Martin and Novarupta.
Trident has seen an increase in activity the past year, but since May, the earthquake frequency underneath the volcano has gone up considerably. Add that to the ground uptick at Trident, and you have the signs of moving magma. Katmai, Mageik and Martin have all seen an increase in seismic activity recently, as well.
Trident was last active between 1953-1974, when it went quiet. The eruptions of ’53 and ’74 formed new vents, which means it could be difficult to pinpoint exactly where an eruption could come from.
On June 6, 1912, the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th Century exploded out of the Katmai Cluster. For years, it was assumed that Mount Katmai was the culprit. It wasn’t until 1953 that Novarupta was determined to be the source. The majority of the magma was lying beneath Mount Katmai, but when the cluster erupted, the explosion came out of Novarupta, which is 6.5 miles away. Mount Katmai then collapsed into itself. Trident Volcano stands just 3 miles from Novarupta.
The amount of magma expelled from Novarupta was 30 times that of Mount St Helens. The devastation of the eruption formed the valley we now know as The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.
Volcanos & Earthquakes with Tsunami & Emu Warnings
Mount Shishaldin on Unimak Island has been restless for a while. A USCG plane flying by noticed molten lava at the crater last week. Finally, on Friday the volcano erupted with a plume of ash that reached 15,000 feet. By Saturday evening, the eruption had earned a Level Red Warning, which had returned to Orange by Sunday night.
I have not heard of a major disruption to air traffic yet.
Great Sitkin, further out on the Aleutian Chain is also at Warning Level Orange.
Late on Saturday night, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded 55 miles southwest of Sand Point, Alaska. That triggered a Tsunami Warning from NOAA and the NWS for early Sunday morning. Luckily, waves of only 6″ high were reported, and the warning was cancelled long before I even woke up in the Interior of Alaska.
By Sunday evening, the Alaska Earthquake Center had recorded roughly two dozen aftershocks from the M7.2 quake, the largest at M5.7.
Not to be left out, the city of Anchorage had a gang of emus on the loose. No word on where the emus escaped from. At one point, they were reportedly spotted near the Campbell Airstrip, which I can say from experience, is a great place to start a hike. I also read through the comments on the post, and I must say that not one was remotely helpful on catching a runaway emu.
River Watch
It’s the time of year where we all watch the rivers up here. Break-up in Fairbanks has lost the drama it had in the early days, before the flood control tamed the Chena River. There was a time when the Cushman Street bridge was rebuilt every year after the ice took it out.
Elsewhere across Alaska, the shifting ice still packs a punch. The ice jam in the above photo has caused flooding 90 miles upstream. Tanana, Alaska has experienced minor flooding from this. Communities all along the Yukon, from Eagle to Buckland have experienced severe flooding.
The Kobuk River has been added to the flood stage list. An ice jam could bring flooding from Kobuk to Ambler if the ice doesn’t break up soon.
In Fairbanks, we saw our first 80F degree day this season on Friday. It broke a record for not just the high temp of the day, but also broke a record for the highest low temperature for the day. It was the earliest 60F degree low on record for Fairbanks. It was certainly noticeable when I went out in the morning.
Green-up Day
The phenomenon known as Green-up occurred on May 16 this year. In one day, the tree buds burst open, giving the hills around Fairbanks a very sudden green tint.
It’s eight days later than the average green-up.
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