The main break up front on the Kuskokwim remains jammed halfway between Crooked Creek and Georgetown. That’s according to an aerial survey from the Kuskokwim River Watch team, which flew from Crooked Creek to below Akiak on Tuesday.
The jumbled ice chunks and ice pans piled at the front compacted from five miles to two miles between Monday to Tuesday. And the water level in the area is elevated but remains below the bank.
From the breakup front to halfway between Crooked Creek and Napaimute, shifted sheets and open leads scatter the river. Below this point, the ice becomes more stable.
Then, above Napaimute at the mouth of the Holokuk River, the ice has moved out and jammed a few miles below the village site.
From Napaimute the ice continues to Aniak.
From Aniak to halfway to Tuluksak at Tundra Bend, the ice is rotting and littered with open areas and shifted sheets.
Below Tundra Bend, the ice becomes darker and more rotten with significant holes and the number of open areas increasing as you move down river.
The Tuluksak River as well as many side channels on the main river are open. And the upper parts of the Akiachak and Kuskokuac Channels have significant open water.
On Wednesday, the River Watch team is flying from Crooked Creek to Birch Crossing.
