Yosemite will stay closed at least through weekend
Yosemite National Park will remain closed through at least early next week as officials continue to respond to snowfall that buried cabins and blocked roads.
Officials tweeted that the park, which has been closed to the public since Feb. 25, could reopen as early as March 13 but called that a “best-case scenario,” as another storm is forecast to bring more precipitation this week.
The Yosemite Valley saw record-breaking snowfall last week; photos from across the park show cabins buried and doorways almost completely blocked.
After the second of backto-back snowstorms ended last week, Yosemite got even more snow in the following days — up to 2 feet in some areas, said Scott Gediman, a spokesperson for the park.
“This is literally on top of the snowfall we’ve already gotten,” he said. “We’ve had, off and on, some nice weather the last few days, but we still have a lot of work to do to ready the park for reopening.”
The park hasn’t suffered major damage, Gediman said, but some tent cabins have collapsed, roofs need repairs, and many roads have only single lanes available. Of the park’s 55 parking lots, three had been cleared as of Tuesday, he said, while crews continue to work to widen roadways, dig out fire hydrants and refill fuel.
“We want to open, and we love the visitors, but safety is a top priority,” he said, noting that park teams have made significant progress.
Still, it’s hard to know exactly what this week’s storm could bring.
“It’s a warmer storm system, but there’s a potential of a lot of things,” Gediman said, adding that flooding, rock slides and avalanches could become issues for the park, depending on how the forecast plays out.
The storm is forecast to bring heavy rain and some snowfall across the Sierra Nevada and its foothills beginning Thursday, raising concerns about serious flooding due to the exceptionally deep snowpack.
There’s a high probability the Yosemite Valley could get up to 3 inches of rain by Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.