Dawson City ice bridge across Yukon River closing early

Warm weather is prompting Yukon highway officials to close the Dawson City ice bridge across the Yukon River on Friday morning.

It's the earliest closure date in more than 20 years of record-keeping. Before this year, the earliest date the bridge was declared off-limits was Apr. 3, in 1999.

Yukon government officials build and maintain the road each winter, only opening it when the ice is thick enough to easily support large vehicles. This year, it opened on Jan. 8.

Dawson experienced an oddly mild winter this year, the warmest since 1900. Environment Canada attributed it to an El Niño weather pattern, that brought warmer temperatures to many parts of Canada. 

So far, spring in Dawson is also unusually warm. The temperature hit 12 degrees on Thursday afternoon, making it the warmest Mar. 31 in four decades in the Klondike capital.