Yosemite National Park Is Closed Indefinitely Due to Severe Winter Weather
The California park has no reopening date after being slammed by record-breaking snowfall.
If you were planning an early March visit to Yosemite National Park, you might want to reschedule.
As of this writing, Yosemite National Park is closed with no estimated reopening date due to significant snowfall throughout the park in recent days. The park announced in a Facebook post this week that it had experienced up to 15 feet of snow in some areas of the park and that crews are working to restore critical services so that visitors can return to the site. It recommended visitors monitor its social media accounts and National Park Service website for up-to-date conditions in the days ahead.
The park also shared photos of the extensive snowfall to its Twitter account:
The park had previously shut down through Wednesday, March 1 due to the severe winter conditions, as travel on all park roads was only available to administrative traffic, but the snowfall on Tuesday was record-breaking. According to SFGate, 40 inches of snow fell in Yosemite Valley on Tuesday alone, beating a previous snowfall record for the day that had stood for 54 years.
The park had warned that an extended closure was anticipated based on the conditions. A total closure, the park said, is somewhat of a rare occurrence, but it happens at least once every few years. As ABC News notes, however, this is the second such closure of Yosemite due to extreme weather in less than a year.
Some Twitter users had expressed their concern regarding hotel reservations. "What happens if we already have hotel reservations within the park and it closes?" asked one of them in the announcement thread. "What if we are already in the park and it gets closed?" According to the park's account, if the park closes before you arrive, you will receive a refund, and if it closes after you arrive, you'll be evacuated when it is safe to do so.
The full closure comes only days after a massive rockslide on the side of El Capitan was caught on video. The phenomenon led to some area and road closures, including the area from approximately El Capitan picnic area to El Capitan Crossover, on the north side of the Merced River.
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