Less snow than usual fell in the area this winter. It melted early, exposing the tundra. A steady wind has dried the vegetation, and hardly any precipitation has fallen since early March. Thoman said that with no rain and abundant sunshine, the tundra has remained brown and dry. The fire still is not threatening the community of Kwethluk or any Native allotments.

Heavy snowfall has made maintaining the lower Kuskokwim Ice Road a challenge this year. The road is shorter than usual, even as its crew is working harder.

The weather may be cold, but it’s too soon to get out on the river ice. The ice is forming up better than it did two years ago, when the winter was the warmest on record, but it is not freezing as fast or as well as last winter, when conditions were near-perfect.

Most Kuskokwim River communities have escaped heavy flooding so far, but not Kwethluk. Social media photos show water rising high and completely covering

An ice jam is holding downstream of Napaimute, flooding the seasonal village. At Aniak, the ice is shifting, according to Aniak resident Dave Cannon.

Poor trail conditions have pushed the Kuskokwim 300 Season Opener race back another week.

Travelers need to stay off Straight Slough, which flows into the main Kuskokwim River near Bethel.

The tragedy came after several days of dire warnings about the dangers of river travel due to an unusually early warm-up. Search and rescuers crawled onto weak ice, open water all around, to help retrieve the survivors.

Two four-wheelers carrying five men leaving Bethel broke through needle ice on the upper end of Church Slough on Sunday night. Two of the men died, while three others were treated for hypothermia in Bethel.

Late freeze on the Lower Kuskokwim produced ice conditions unsafe for travel in November.

Drivers need to stick to marked trails on the Lower Kuskokwim River, according to the latest update from Bethel Search and Rescue’s Earl Samuelson. There is a spot in front of Oscarville that has only 9 inches of ice, which Samuelson says is too thin to drive a truck on.

Four teams had scratched as of 7 p.m. Saturday because of the icy conditions, said Kuskokwim 300 race director Madelene Reichard. "It's the same thing for all of them," Reichard said. "The dogs aren't used to running on the ice, and people were wanting to keep their dogs healthy."

How will climate change affect health in Alaska? Dangerous travel conditions could cause more accidents, warmer temperatures could spread new diseases and the topsy-turvy weather could worsen mental health. Those are some conclusions from a new state report released Monday. Listen now

The warm winter has made traveling on the river ice more hazardous than Bethel Search and Rescue ever remembers.

Sled dog racing season officially began on the Kuskokwim this weekend. Listen now

A father’s body has been recovered from the Kuskokwim River after he and his family fell through a marked, open hole the night of New Year’s Eve. Bethel

Melting permafrost and major storms are eating away at the coastal Alaskan village of Newtok. Residents are desperate to move, but the U.S. has no climate change policy that could help them.

In villages like Kongiganak, communities have stopped burying their dead because, as the permafrost melts, the oldest part of their cemetery is sinking.

4-13-14 River ice treacherous - Bethel, Alaska, USA

2-20-14 Very little snow - Bethel, Alaska, USA