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.
In less than a day, the riverbank was eroded back more than 60 feet, threatening some cabins near the river.
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.
Open water in February.
" 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.
Residents note significant changes in the Christiansen Lake ecosystem since 2019. This includes fewer nesting birds, fish, and mammals around the lake, while the leech population has increased along with the occurrence of algal blooms.
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.
“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.
"I am worried that unless we do something, the algae will kill the lake, or at least our enjoyment of it."
Elodea was discovered in Alexander Lake in 2014 by researchers checking minnow traps. At the time, it covered 20 percent of the lake but now has spread to 90 percent.
We have over two weeks of cold windy weather. It started in mid April around the time of the big wind storm. And in relation of the wind storm on April 24th, Rick Thoman wrote: "Winds this strong in the Anchorage are rare at this time of year. An unusually strong storm for the season in the southeastern Bering Sea produced southeast strong winds blowing across the Chugach Mountains. However, being April, the temperature profile of the atmosphere close to the ground was more conducive than in winter for allowing the very strong winds aloft to reach down to the ground.
A National Weather Service employee spotted an ice jam that's causing some minor flooding northwest of the Starner Street bridge, along Peters Creek.
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