Yukon River Level
The live level of the Yukon River at the Whitehorse gauge, its recent range and trend, with the official Yukon flood information.
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The live level of the Yukon River at the Whitehorse gauge, its recent range and trend, with the official Yukon flood information.
The Yukon River runs right through Whitehorse. This is its live level at the Water Survey of Canada gauge in town — where it sits against its own recent range, and whether it's rising or falling. In the spring freshet, late May into June, snowmelt across the Southern Lakes is what drives the region's flood risk.
29.45 m
At the top of its recent range. Steady over the past few days. Measured 18 Jun, 8:15.
The official flood warning is at Yukon Emergency Measures
These numbers describe the river. They are not a flood warning — the official flood-vigilance level for this station is set by Yukon Emergency Measures.
The Government of Yukon (Emergency Measures Organization) issues flood and ice advisories and warnings through the freshet, and the Yukon Flood Hub shows the current situation and community flood maps. The number here describes the river; the flood call is made there.
The level shown is the gauge's reading on its own scale in metres — it is not the depth of the water. What matters day to day is whether it's rising or falling and where it sits in the river's recent range. The Whitehorse stretch is regulated by the hydro dam upstream, so it moves less than a wild river; a steady rise through the freshet is the thing to watch.
Whitehorse's serious flood risk comes from the spring freshet — snowmelt, sometimes with rain — filling the Southern Lakes (Marsh, Tagish, Bennett) and the Yukon River. In 2021 those lakes broke records and the Canadian military was brought in for the largest flood-mitigation effort in Yukon history. Yukon Energy lowers Marsh Lake through the Whitehorse dam each spring to make room for the melt. If you're on low ground at Marsh Lake or the Southern Lakes, watch those gauges and the Flood Hub, not just the in-town reading.
Checked 18 Jun, 9:16. River data from the Water Survey of Canada (Environment and Climate Change Canada), under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Real-time readings are provisional and unvalidated, and may later be revised.