Flood watch near Old Crow, high water levels near Carmacks as spring thaw continues in Yukon

Old Crow and Carmacks are the latest Yukon communities under break-up advisories as river ice continues to melt across the territory.

On Friday night, the territory issued a flood watch for the Porcupine River by Old Crow. It said the flood risk is high for that river over the next week.

Water levels are already rising on some of the Porcupine's tributaries. The territory said there's evidence of "freeze-up ice jams" from the beginning of winter. The river basin also saw far more snow fall over winter — about 174 per cent of the historical median — and snowmelt is expected to pour into the river.

"Open sections and small ice jams are already forming in the upper reaches of the watershed," the territory wrote in its ice break-up forecast Friday.

The territory also issued a high streamflow notice Friday night for the Nordenskiold River near Carmacks. It said the river is nearly spilling its banks in some locations and snowmelt could cause it to flood.

Meanwhile, a flood warning is still in place for the Klondike River by Dawson City. The ice jam at Henderson's Corner broke Friday, with a resulting wave of water causing more flooding through Rock Creek, the territory said.

It jammed again next to the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Farm, overwhelming the dike, drainage and ditching and causing severe flooding.

The territory said another jam formed downstream of the farm and flooded the highway briefly.

The water levels on the Klondike are still very high and are expected to remain so as rain falls Saturday and snow keeps melting.

The territory said water levels could temporarily rise by two or three feet when the ice jams release and a wave of water goes down the river.