River Breakup Season, Between Freeze and Flood

Send us Fan Mail Each spring, northern rivers go from solid ice to flowing water. In the best-case scenario this process goes smoothly but if ice jams form, there can be trouble. We first ran this conversation with Holly Goulding, senior hydrologist with the Government of Yukon, in February 2023. Given the winter the territory just came through, it felt like the right time to bring it back. Goulding breaks down how ice, water, snow, and temperature combine to create the perfect melt or the pe...