Yosemite breaks snow record; park closes
Yosemite National Park will remain closed indefinitely because of the severe weather battering California.
The park was shut down Saturday as heavy snowfall and white-out conditions in the Sierra prevented safe travel. It was expected to reopen Thursday, but the same train of winter storms that hit over the weekend has continued and showed little sign of letting up.
On Tuesday, Yosemite Valley counted 40 inches of snow on the ground, surpassing the previous record for the date of 36 inches in 1969, according to park officials.
“We’re committed to opening the park as soon as we can do it in a safe manner,” Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman told The Chronicle.
Yosemite officials did not estimate when the park might reopen and advised the public to monitor the park’s website and social media channels for further information.
Before allowing the public to return, park staff must clear roads of unrelenting snow, ensure the continuation of power and other utilities that have been affected by downed trees and get food and other supplies into the park for visitors.
“While we certainly welcome the snow, it’s created a lot of challenges,” Gediman said.
Known for its unparalleled displays of natural beauty, including granite peaks and towering waterfalls, the park is rarely closed because of weather. The last time snow shut down parts of the park was in 2011, officials said. Wildfires, though, have led to a handful of more recent closures.
The current shutdown comes at a time when visitors go to the park to take in snow-covered mountains, and it’s usually less busy. The big draw is the park’s firefall, the show of sunlight on the cliffs, which looks like a fiery waterfall and is present only periodically in winter.
The National Weather Service forecasts the worst of the storms in the park through Wednesday, then easing some Thursday before another possible round of on-and-off snow over the weekend.
A blizzard warning remains in effect through 4 p.m. Wednesday for the region. The weather service has warned that travel through the Sierra could be “very difficult to impossible.” Wind chills are expected to drop as low as 30 degrees below zero, a point at which frostbite develops on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.
Main thoroughfares through the Sierra have been closed intermittently because of snow, including Interstate 80 and Highway 50.