Yosemite National Park Closed Indefinitely After Record 15-Feet Of Snow

Back-to-back winter storms forced officials to close Yosemite National Park indefinitely. The park has been closed since Saturday (February 25) due to heavy snow.

Officials were hoping to reopen the park to visitors by Thursday, but a second storm dumped up to 15 feet of snow in some areas, forcing the park to remain closed until further notice.

The Yosemite Valley, which is among the lowest elevations in the park, recorded 40 inches of snow on Tuesday, breaking the daily record which stood since 1969.

“In all of my years here, this is the most snow that I’ve ever seen at one time,” Scott Gediman, a spokesperson for Yosemite and ranger for 27 years, told the Los Angeles Times. “This is the most any of us have ever seen.”

Gediman said that crews are working as quickly as they can to clear the roads and dig out from the storms.

“What we’re doing is literally taking it one day at a time,” Gediman said. “We’re just digging out and doing the best we can to remove the snow and get the park ready for visitors in a safe manner.”

Yosemite National Park is the sixth-most visited national park in the country, with 3.67 million visitors in 2022.