YOSEMITE VALLEY, Calif. (KERO) — State officials are closing Yosemite National Park due to severe weather.
Park officials announced on Sat, Feb 25 that the park will be closed through Wed, March 1. The National Weather Service has also issued a blizzard warning for Yosemite Valley until Wednesday as well.
Another storm system will impact Central California early next week. Winter Storm Watches are in effect for the Sierra Nevada, adjacent foothills, & Kern County mountains. Snow levels as low as 2,000 feet. Most precipitation will fall Monday afternoon & Monday night. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/y3hBM1mzFO
— NWS Hanford (@NWSHanford) February 25, 2023
Officials say that travel on all park roads is restricted to administrative traffic only. That includes all campgrounds and hiking areas inside the park.
This is not the first time Yosemite has been closed due to severe winter weather.
According to the East Bay Times, Yosemite closed due to similar winter conditions on Feb 5, 2019. At the time, heavy snow conditions made the park's roads unable to be navigated for four days.
Last week, a large rockslide sent tons of boulders crashing down from El Capitan. The immense 3,000-foot-tall granite monolith on the north side of Yosemite Valley.
Meanwhile, the past weekend was supposed to have brought many travelers to the park for the yearly phenomenon known as the “Firefall,” when the sun catches one of Yosemite’s iconic waterfalls in just the right way to resemble fire.
