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ated 105 m and the annual balance was 1 46 m easton glacier s main icefall developed two large bedrock areas that had not been present in 2024 and were emerging but stil in caves in 2025 this illustrates significant annual thinning at 2100 m well above the terminus area at 1700 m field painting by jill pelto easton glacier below 2200 m lost all snow cover by mid august and thinned rapidly leading to continued rapid retreat of 45 m the thinning exposed new bedrock areas as high as 2800 m on the glacier the snow depth rose rapidly above 2400 m indicating the freezing level during the december ar event annual balance of 1 17 was less negative due to better high elevation snowpack easton glacier in 2026 from our base camp we observed terminus retreat and accumulation area ratio and 2300 m snow depths on deming squak and talum glacier deming glacier retreated rapidly losing 110 m in 2026 due to a cave collapse and formation of a small lake squak s steep terminus lacks crevassing indicating limited motion despite the 30 degree slope this illustrates how thin the ice is which will lead to continued rapid retreat which was 40 m in 2026 columbia glacier and its expanding proglacial lake in mid august 2026 notice only snowcover in avalanche fans on west side in 2026 the approach to columbia glacier via the blanca lake trailhead was lengthened by bridge and road washouts from the december atmospheric river event the lack of avalanche snowpack in the basin and on the glacier indicates the warm winter conditions that prevented buildup of snowpack in the 1600 2000 m range that feeds this glacier by early august the only snow cover on the glacier was in two avalanche fans on the west side by the end of summer only 10 of the glacier had snowcover and the annual balance was 2 56 m the lake at the terminus expanded due to continued rapid retreat 50 m in 2026 lynch glacier s upper accumulation basin notice lack of snowpack around pea soup lake in the 2000 m range while good snowpack existed at 2300 m lynch glacier had substantial snowpack remaining in its upper basin above 2300 m this indicated that the december atmospheric river event deposited snow not rain on the upper lynch this was partly due to the embedded cold air east of the divide that lynch glacier sits on our approach and exit from mount daniel and lynch glacier was impacted by smoke from the three queens fire the area was evacuated as we completed work on these glaciers the glacier had its highest accumulation area ratio 30 since 2020 leading to an annual balance of 1 28 m daniels glacier in mid august with good snow cover daniels glacier was the clear winner in 2026 rapid recession has eliminated the lower section below 2150 m which was 40 of its area in early august the glacier was still fully snow covered by early september the glacier was still 80 snow covered this remaining snowpack was thin but did keep glacier ice from being exposed by october 3 the glacier was down to 32 snowcover the results was a positive mass balance of 0 96 m this is in sharp contrast to the 2021 2025 mean balance of 2 4 m year on september 25th the melt season ended with a two day snow storm blanketing the glaciers jill had been on mount shuksan the previous day the lack of melt in september resulted in reduced mass losses from the previous three years at 1 5 m vs over 2 m the in 2023 2025 snowpack depth of 3 75 m at 2600 m on easton glacier 40 years in the north cascades by jill pelto this piece captures the mass balance data of the north cascade glaciers as whole as collected by our project from 1984 2022 jill digitally updated the graph line in her painting to include 2023 2026 as seen by the pale line that extends beyond the ice mt baker at the end of the melt season on september 24 2026 photo taken by jill pelto from the summit pyramid of mt shuksan share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on x opens in new window x like loading ultramarine glacier alaska no longer has accumulation zone on september 26 2026 september 26 2026 by mspelto in alaska glacier retreat climate change glacier retreat glacier climate change glacier observations leave a comment ultramarine glacier in 1986 and 2026 landsat image red arrow 1986 terminus and yellow arrow 2026 terminus the glacier has retreated 2 2 km and in 2026 has no retaied snow cover nj nellie juan glacier ultramarine glacier is an outlet glacier of the sargent icefield the terminus extends northwest from the glacier and icefield to the south is princeton glacier and the north is nellie juan glacier the glacier terminus has been in an expanding proglacial lake but appers to be retreating from this lake the glacier has a low elevation accumulaiton between 300 and 525 m with a terminus tongue extending down to 100 m the glacier has retreated 2 2 km since 1986 similar to the 2 8 km retreat of nellie juan glacier in 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2024 and 2026 the glacier lost all of its snow cover the firn layers are evident in the landsat image above and the sentinel images below these layers are not visible when snow cover exists the ring pattern marks the ice divides where ice flows either to the nellie juan ultramarine or princeton glacier a glacier without a persistent accumulation zone cannot survive this is the situation for ultramarine glacier with an area of 17 km 2 it will endure for several decades the contact glacier to the north that was connected to the nellie juan glacier as well is in the same situation but with an area of 2 5 km 2 will disappear sooner the glacier fits well the regional pattern including in kenai fjords national park black and kurtz 2021 and excelsior glacier on the south side of the icefield ultramarine glacier with no snow cover in 2018 and 2026 the firn layers are evident which also highlight the flow divides of the glacier nj nellie juan glacier pr princeton glacier share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on x opens in new window x like loading sheridan glacier alaska retreat causing lake expansion 2002 2026 on september 19 2026 september 19 2026 by mspelto in alaska glacier retreat climate change glacier retreat glacier climate change glacier observations leave a comment retreat of sheridan glacier and expansion of sheridan lake from 2002 2026 in landsat images lake has expanded from 3 8 to 13 5 km 2 due to 2 25 km retreat sheridan glacier in the chugach mountains of alaska flows southwest out of the mountains onto a terminus plain where it has gouged out a lake basin that expands as the glacier retreats sheridan lake is a proglacial lake at the terminus that drains into the sheridan river that 12 km later reaches tidewater from 1950 to 2000 sheridan glacier experienced modest retreat with a fringing proglacial sheridan lake persisting then a rapid retreat accompanied a terminus disintegration from 2000 2016 shugar et al 2018 this led to lake expansion that is ongoing in 2026 in 2002 the proglacial lake had an area of 3 8 km 2 with the terminus crossing one small island in the lake the snowline was at 750 m in 2013 there is a 4 km 2 terminus area that has disintegrated the terminus has retreated off of the island by 2016 the terminus has retreated north of the glacier stream from sherman glacier entering from the east though much of the lake is still filled with an iceberg melange the snowline is at 925 m in 2020 the sheridan lake area has expanded to 11 2 km 2 with the snowline at 970 m in 2026 the lake has expanded to an area of 13 5 km 2 epresenting a retreat of 9 7 km 2 since 2002 in 2026 the terminus tongue is not stable unbuttressed on its lateral margins for 2 km and retreat will continue the amount of terminus retreat here is less than that at alsek or yakutat glacier but the lake expansion rate is comparable to excelsior glacier or allen glacier sheridan glacier retreat and lake expansion 2002 2020 snowline indicated by blue dots on these landsat images sheridan glacier retreat and lake expansion 2013 2016 snowline indicated by blue dots on these landsat images share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on x opens in new window x like loading berg lake alaska glacier dammed lake outburst 2026 on september 3 2026 by mspelto in alaska glacier retreat leave a comment berg lake on aug 30th after drainage in this landsat image yellow arrow indicates lake that has changed from dark blue seen in late july indicative of limited glacier input to a lighter blue indicating glacier input berg lake alaksa is impounded by the steller glacier terminus during the latter half of the 20th century and early 21st century this lake periodically drained west through a gorge to the bering river the lake drainage currently goes directly from pacman lake into the gandil river and then into the bering river watershed the lake continues to fill each summer and drain in late summer with drainage being in august of 2021 and 2022 and late july of 2023 and 2024 and august in 2025 and 2026 the evolution was discussed in a nasa project i worked on in 2025 nasa 2025 here we examine a series of landsat images that illustrate the filled and drained lake in the summer of 2026 berg lake on july 29th before drainage in this landsat image yellow arrow indicates lake that is dark blue indicative of limited glacier input in 2026 the lake filled to an area of 13 km 2 by late july and maintained that level through at least aug 14th imagery from aug 27th and 30th indicates the lake had drained the lake bottom is now littered with icebergs there are two other ice dammed lakes due east across the glacier that have not drained berg lake on aug 14th still full in this landsat image yellow arrow indicates lake that is dark blue indicative of limited glacier input share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on x opens in new window x like loading skykomish river basin state of glaciers in 2026 on august 24 2026 august 24 2026 by mspelto in glacier observations leave a comment the skykomish river in the north cascades is partially glacier fed it joins with the snoqualmie river to form the snohomish river flowing into the puget sound near everett columbia glacier is seen on the left of the painting with the beautiful blanca lake beneath this is one of three glaciers remaining in this region the other six have recently disappeared on the right side is the alpine lakes wilderness two glaciers in this complex remain the large bar graph in this piece shows skykomish river discharge the volume of water from mid july to late september in 2023 the decrease in water over the dry hot summer period is evident the line graph that makes up the mountain above the bars shows the temperature of the river at this same time highlighting heat wave events when the temperature spikes and when the river levels drop a critical threshold is reached for salmon and other species this highlights the importance of glaciers in acting as a buffer during drought and heat events in 1958 the skykomish river basin was home to nineteen glaciers or perennial snow and ice bodies exceeding 0 1 km 2 in area with a combined area of 5 7 km 2 post and others 1971 it was the third most glaciated west side basin in the north cascades behind the nooksack and skagit river these glaciers provided significant runoff to the basin in late summer fountain and tangborn 1980 we have monitored the mass balance of two glaciers in this basin from 1984 2026 and the changing area and dynamic characteristics of six other glaciers during this period the skykomish river basin has experienced rapid glacier loss leading to the loss of six of its nine glaciers and over a 40 area reduction of the remaining three the north cascade glacier climate project has maintained an annual mass balance monitoring on the two largest glaciers in the basin from 1984 2026 columbia and lynch glacier the mean annual mass balance on these two glaciers was 0 4 m year from 1984 2013 decreasing to 1 5 m year from 2014 to 2025 this represents the average water equivalent thickness of ice lost from the glacier columbia glacier in 2003 and 2026 illustrating both the thinning formation of a new lake and significant area decline in the field between 1984 and 1986 we identified nine glaciers in the basin that had active crevassing and sufficient area to be classified as a glacier during the 2005 2023 period we observed six of these glaciers to have disappeared lynch and columbia glacier now comprise 88 of the total glaciated area in the basin in 2023 up from 37 of total glaciated area in 1958 foss glacier the third remaining glacier in the basin has lost 85 of its area since 1958 and has almost disappeared we will check on this glacier later this summer to see if it still is a glacier the basin is on a trajectory to lose all its remaining glaciers in the next 2 3 decades this transition to a non glacier fed watershed will lead to further reductions in summer discharge and increased summer water temperatures in 2026 the approach to columbia glacier via the blanca lake trailhead was lenghtened by bridge and road washouts from the december atmospheric river event in 2026 the columbia glacier will thin by at least 2 m the lack of avalanche snowpack indicates the warm winter conditions that prevented buildup of snowpack in the 5000 6500 foot range that feeds this glacier lynch glacier had substantial snowpack remaining in its upper basin above 7200 feet this indicated that the december atmospheric river event deposited snow not rain on the upper lynch this was partly due to the embedded cold air east of the divide that lynch glacier sits on our approach and exit from mount daniel and lynch glacier was impacted by smoke from the three queens fire foss glacier continues to fragement and disappear in glaciated watersheds glacier runoff is of particular importance to aquatic life in late summer and early fall when other water sources are at a minimum increasing minimum flow and reducing maximum temperatures thus providing crucial drought buffering capacity ultee and others 2022 in the skykomish river chinook salmon are a threatened species with the fall runs being sensitive to lower flows and higher temperatures stream discharge and temperature are observed at the usgs skykomish river gaging station at gold bar this gaging station is downstream of the confluence of the north and south fork of the skykomish river the basin above gold bar has an area of 1386 km 2 the average elevation of the basin is 1050 m a key threshold of in stream flow levels considered insufficient to maintain short term survival of fish stocks is below 10 of the mean annual flow for skykomish river that threshold is 14 m 3 s 1 490 cfs in the skykomish river from 1958 to 2023 there were 390 melt season days with d...