| Summary: | On verso of image: Highwater in Dawson Filed in Canada--Yukon The Yukon River has a history of destructive floods. Although the territory's population is sparse, most communities are located on flood plains, a by-product of historical reliance on river transportation. That makes them particularly vulnerable to flooding. The earliest floods in the spring are ice-jam floods, which usually occur in May. Dawson City is particularly susceptible. The floods happen during break-up, when moving ice piles up against a barrier or constriction in the river. The water rises behind the jam and spills over the riverbank. As soon as the danger of ice-jam floods passes, the season for snow-melt flooding begins. And just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water -- along come the glacier and snowfield flooding events. They hit in late summer, when there's a good snow-pack high in the mountains and warm temperatures to melt it. [Source: yourYukon web site, http://www.taiga.net/yourYukon/col255.html]
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