Yosemite Pushes Reopening Date Due To Stormy Weather

Yosemite National Park photo

Yosemite, CA – Yosemite National Park has pushed its reopening date from the beginning of next week to the end.

As earlier reported here, all the gates to the park have been closed since Saturday, February 25, and the goal was to reopen on Monday, March 13. Park officials now say that it will remain closed through Thursday, March 16, and “possibly longer.” They added, “A partial reopening on March 17 is a best-case scenario.” Another storm system is blowing into the region today, and the additional storms forecast for next week could result in further impacts on the park.

“Conditions will be evaluated on a daily basis, and the park will provide an update late next week,” advised park officials. “We have received significant snowfall over the last several weeks. The National Park Service and partner crews are working hard to reopen as soon as it is safe.”

Park officials provided this list of some of the tasks being focused on by park crews:

• Plowing roads to two full lanes wide.
• Plowing parking lots and pullouts. Many parking lots are still under up to six feet of snow.
• Evaluating snow loading on trees near roads and facilities (which could cause trees to fall in popular areas).
• Locating and digging out hundreds of fire hydrants and propane tanks.
• Damage assessments on park buildings (mostly damage to chimneys and roof vents from snow sliding off roofs).
• Removing snow from rooftops to prevent structure collapse and danger to bystanders from snow sliding off roofs.
• Various other facilities and vehicles need to be dug out, repaired, and/or resupplied.
• Contingency planning for flood impacts.

Park officials also detailed below what can be viewed on the video in the image box that shows crews working in the Curry Village area this past Monday and Tuesday (4/6-7/2023); there is no audio:

1. Front-end loader expands plowed area surrounded by several feet of snow. Tops of tent cabins barely visible in background due to deep snow.
2. Grader scrapes ice off the plowed parking lot.
3. Loader dumps snow in a pile of snow.
4. View from passenger seat inside a car driving on a road plowed one lane wide with several feet of snow on both sides of the road. Half Dome visible above the road.
5. Curry Village front office with a few feet of snow on the roof and with a path through snow that is several feet deep. Glacier Point Apron in background.
6. A person walking on a plowed path with snow up to their shoulders; “The Deck” is visible in the background.
7. A wood cabin with several feet of snow on the slanted roof, surrounded by snow up to the bottom of the windows. It is snowing.
8. View from passenger seat inside a car driving on a road plowed one lane wide with several feet of snow on both sides of the road. Yosemite Falls is briefly visible in the background.
9. Close-up and distant shot of a brown road sign for the visitor center buried almost to the top in snow.]

Park officials share, “As park crews continue snow removal operations and flood preparation, employee safety remains the top priority.”