Alaskans are taking advantage of rare ice skating conditions on alpine lakes in Chugach State Park, with hundreds of people hiking into the backcountry to skate on smooth ice in the shadow of iconic peaks.
The Kenai River has been running high ever since two glacier dammed lakes emptied into the river over the last few days. In the Kenai Keys subdivision near Sterling, the river is lapping at the doorsteps of the hundred or so homes that line the river. Longtime resident Frank Turpin said although he’s seen worse flooding, this one is significant. The road leading into the gated subdivision is flooded in numerous places although some vehicles can still make it through. Neighbors who live on higher ground have offered their yards for people wishing to store cars or other items until the waters recede.
Usually, the Snow Glacier and Skilak lakes release every two or three years. Both at the same time is unprecedented.
The rain in July has been persistent and in some cases intense. At Cheney Lake there is plenty of evidence about the wet summer.
Oil from a nearby fuel container leaked through the water system in the lake most likely due to heavy rains of the past month. Cleanup efforts were ongoing this week. It’s not clear when the park will reopen.
Over the last several weeks the algae bloom has ranged from significant covering the surface of the lake in many places to today seeing patches of the bloom here and there on the surface. It can also be observed below the surface near the shoreline.
A culvert collapse closed the road at Mile 8 from 9 p.m. Friday until one lane reopened at 10 a.m. Sunday. The culvert was washed out by heavy snowmelt.
Open water in February.
Just over a year ago, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game applied the pesticide rotenone to two lakes and a stream in the remote Miller Creek drainage on the northern Kenai Peninsula to eradicate the last known population of invasive northern pike on the Kenai Peninsula.
Cold on the Peninsula! Cabin owner on Kenai River near Soldotna says they have not seen it frozen like this in years.
" I was down by North Fork taking pictures by the stream and noticed the differing speeds in current throughout the small part of the stream in view. A part of the stream was almost completely stagnant and just a little way farther down stream it was flowing like crazy. "
Last week, Alaska became one of at least 32 states to report finding zebra mussels in a product called moss balls which were sold at local pet stores.
Flooding on Willow Creek Saturday night and Sunday has led to seven families being evacuated, with five people taking shelter at the Willow Community Center. The Willow Fire Department, Mat-Su Animal Care and the Mat-Su Water Rescue Team organized to assist those impacted by the flood.
The flooding started when large chunks of ice jammed at Deneki bridge, according to an advisory issued by the National Weather Service.
Mergansers (Mergus merganser) are not common visitors to Cheney Lake, but a flock of about a dozen showed up in early November.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood advisory for Kenai Lake and the Kenai River near Cooper Landing.
“It was a beautiful event that we were lucky to have survived,” Andrew Hooper said.
Two popular rivers are being closed to fishing because almost no cohos are making it upstream.
“When I first started six years ago, icebergs like this were more common,” says a tour boat captain on the lake near Anchorage.
River otters observed within Anchorage city limits.
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