Yukon River at Dawson

The live level and flow of the Yukon River at Dawson, with the official flood-warning link — the break-up ice-jam watch.

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Worth knowing

At break-up, ice jams are the real driver — not just high water

Dawson's most consequential flooding comes in spring when the river ice breaks up and jams downstream, backing water up fast. In May 2023 an ice jam near Rock Creek and Henderson Corner pushed water up close to four feet in about two hours overnight for some homes — residents went to bed with the water well away and woke to it at the doorstep. A reading that looks ordinary can still turn dangerous within hours once the ice moves, which is why the official warning, not the gauge, is the thing to watch in break-up season.

May 2023: tactical evacuation at Rock Creek

During the 2023 break-up, about 20 properties along Rock Creek Road were evacuated and more than 80 people registered with the Yukon government's emergency support services. The evacuation was a recommendation rather than an order, and Henderson Corner and the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in farm were also threatened. Low-lying areas — Rock Creek, Henderson Corner and West Dawson — are the ones that go under first.

Where two rivers meet

Dawson sits at the confluence of the Klondike and the Yukon. This gauge reads the Yukon River at Dawson (station 09EB001). The Klondike is gauged separately upstream — at Rock Creek (09EA006) and above Bonanza Creek (09EA003) — and in break-ups like 2023 it was the Klondike's ice jams that drove the evacuations, so a calm Yukon reading here is not the whole picture.

Official channels

511 Yukon — roads, ferry and ice-bridge statusLive road conditions and the status of the George Black ferry and the Dawson ice bridge. Phone 511 in Yukon, or 1-867-456-7623.

Yukon Flood Hub — current situation and forecastingThe Yukon government's flood watches, warnings and river forecasting, including Dawson and the Klondike Valley.