The wildfires can burrow into rich organic material, such as the vast peatlands that ring the Arctic, and smolder under the snowpack throughout the frigid winter.

After the thunderstorms that moved through Southcentral Sunday evening, Anchorage broke a new record…the most consecutive days with a thunderstorm: three.

The yellow tinting in ocean water has been identified by the Tanana Valley Clinic as spruce pollen, but it remains to be seen why the pollen counts are so high this year.

Ocean water may be tinted yellow from pollen.

Seeing pollen in rainwater is unusual.

Unusually high levels of seasonal pollen create a visible sheen on water.

Warm temperatures are causing birch buds to burst, sending large amounts of pollen in the air. In Chuathbaluk, there was so much pollen, it was visible as a tornado.

High water in the Noatak River causes erosion near the old dump site.

Unusually warm spring temperatures are rapidly melting above average snowpack, leading to flooding.

High water in the Koyukuk River is causing erosion near Huslia as warm spring temperatures rapidly melt above-average snowpack.