Highway crews expect to have the Dempster Highway open late today or early tomorrow, says Yukon government spokeswoman Jennifer Gehmair.

Gehmair said crews are working to establish one lane around the washout at Rock River, north of the Eagle Plains Hotel.

"Of course it is all weather-dependent,” she said.

"Looking at the forecast, it is supposed to stop raining this afternoon and be clear for the next couple of days, so the weather is in our favour.”

Gehmair said regular highway updates are available at the Yukon 511 line or the department's Twitter feed.

Crews are currently working to clear debris and install a new 1.2-metre culvert to replace the culvert that was blown at Rock River early Wednesday morning, she said.

Meteorologist Doug Lundquist of Environment Canada said late this morning he'd actually sent the Yukon government a notice Monday in advance of the anticipated storm for the Dempster.

Lundquist said he was wondering how vulnerable the Dempster Highway was to heavy rainfall.

While he didn't hear back, now he has an idea, he said from his office in Kelowna, B.C.

Lundquist said the area around Rock River and Eagle Plains received 62 centimetres of rain from Monday through to early Wednesday morning.

Using the more comprehensive weather history from the community of Old Crow, the 62 centimetres which fell in the three days are at least equal to or maybe even double what the region would expect for the whole month of July, he said.