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| Flooding threat from melting snow prompts Yosemite park closures | Flooding threat from melting snow prompts Yosemite park closures |
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| While seasonal floods aren’t unusual for the national park, this spring could see a deluge from winter snowpack melt | While seasonal floods aren’t unusual for the national park, this spring could see a deluge from winter snowpack melt |
| Most of Yosemite valley – the tourist center of the famed national park – will close this weekend as warming temperatures threaten the region with a surge in snowmelt that’s expected to push the Merced River beyond its banks. Forecasters have warned that runoff from California’s historic snowpack, set high along the peaks of the Sierra Nevada range, could cause widespread flooding. | Most of Yosemite valley – the tourist center of the famed national park – will close this weekend as warming temperatures threaten the region with a surge in snowmelt that’s expected to push the Merced River beyond its banks. Forecasters have warned that runoff from California’s historic snowpack, set high along the peaks of the Sierra Nevada range, could cause widespread flooding. |
| “Downslope there will be problems,” said the National Weather Service meteorologist David Spector, adding that the area around the Pohono Bridge just east of the park’s central entrance would reach flood stage by Friday. “Only parts of the valley are expected to be impacted for now,” he said. “But it may become worse by Sunday or Monday.” | “Downslope there will be problems,” said the National Weather Service meteorologist David Spector, adding that the area around the Pohono Bridge just east of the park’s central entrance would reach flood stage by Friday. “Only parts of the valley are expected to be impacted for now,” he said. “But it may become worse by Sunday or Monday.” |
| Minor spring floods aren’t unusual and Spector said they typically affect the area every five or six years. But this year has already been a standout. | Minor spring floods aren’t unusual and Spector said they typically affect the area every five or six years. But this year has already been a standout. |
| A grueling set of storms that peppered the park through the winter and into spring forced Yosemite to close for weeks and left behind a mess of scattered trees, tall berms of snow and inundated infrastructure that needed mending before visitors could return. The intense winter was just the latest in a series of extreme weather events to affect the park, which also spent stretches of the summer shrouded in smoke as wildfires threatened cherished landmarks. Officials have had to turn away hundreds of thousands of visitors, many of whom have waited years to score a scarce campsite or hotel reservation in the valley. | |
| And this closure, which officials have extended through the weekend from Friday through next Wednesday, is probably not going to be the last this season. “It is very likely that the Merced River will reach flood stage off and on from late April through early July,” officials posted in an update on the park’s website, adding that when the Merced River surpasses 10ft (3 meters) at Pohono Bridge “roads and other critical infrastructure begin flooding, making it unsafe for visitors to be in Yosemite valley”. | And this closure, which officials have extended through the weekend from Friday through next Wednesday, is probably not going to be the last this season. “It is very likely that the Merced River will reach flood stage off and on from late April through early July,” officials posted in an update on the park’s website, adding that when the Merced River surpasses 10ft (3 meters) at Pohono Bridge “roads and other critical infrastructure begin flooding, making it unsafe for visitors to be in Yosemite valley”. |
| The Merced is expected to reach 11.5ft (3.5 meters) at the Pohono Bridge by Sunday afternoon, according to forecasts issued by the California Nevada River Forecast Center. If it rises a foot higher, the main roads in Yosemite valley will be inundated. It’s still unclear how high the river will reach as the weather continues to warm. | The Merced is expected to reach 11.5ft (3.5 meters) at the Pohono Bridge by Sunday afternoon, according to forecasts issued by the California Nevada River Forecast Center. If it rises a foot higher, the main roads in Yosemite valley will be inundated. It’s still unclear how high the river will reach as the weather continues to warm. |
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| “This is going to last long term – well into the summer,” Spector said. “Parts of the park are going to be closed because of the flooding.” | “This is going to last long term – well into the summer,” Spector said. “Parts of the park are going to be closed because of the flooding.” |