Yosemite National Park anticipates significant precipitation over the weekend

All roads leading into Yosemite Valley will close today at 5:00 pm in anticipation of a significant winter storm moving into the region early tomorrow morning, Saturday, January 7, 2017. There will be no visitor services available throughout the storm. Visitors intending to visit Yosemite National Park are highly encouraged to monitor weather reports and check road conditions before departing. These closures are being implemented to ensure the safety of park visitors and employees during the coming storm.

Visitor services and facilities will be extremely limited through the coming storm and assessment. The following areas are anticipated to remain open and operational:

• Hetch Hetchy via Evergreen Road will remain open daily from 9am - 5pm.
• Along Big Oak Flat Road (Hwy 120 West): Hodgdon Meadow Campground will remain open on a first-come, first-served basis, Tuolumne Grove and Merced Grove will remain open, and Crane Flat Gas Station is open (credit cards only). The Big Oak Flat Road will be closed at the junction to Foresta.
• Along the Wawona Road (Hwy 41): Wawona Campground will remain open on a first-come, first-served basis. Visitors will have access to the Redwoods Guest cottages. There will be access to Yosemite West. The Wawona Road will be closed at Chinquapin (no access will be available to the Glacier Point Road).
• The El Portal Road (Hwy 140) will be closed at the park line in El Portal. Businesses along Hwy 140 outside of the park are anticipated to remain open.

Park visitors are asked to be aware of hazards, including potential wet and icy road conditions, rockfall, and debris in roadways. The park has experienced significant rainfall over the past month and ground saturation could lead to hazardous conditions along park roadways.

The storm is forecasted to peak mid-day Sunday, January 8, 2017. The roads leading into Yosemite Valley will remain closed at least through Sunday. The park will assess conditions early Monday morning. There is no anticipated date or time for roads into Yosemite Valley and guest services to reopen.

The flood stage forecast for the Merced River at Pohono Bridge appears to be creeping up again. It had dropped from the near-record 23ft. to around 15.5 ft. Thursday, and is now up to 17.6 ft.

Looks like they just updated it again. About 18.4 ft. and just over 20k cfs.

MERCED RIVER AT POHONO BRIDGE NEAR YOSEMITE
8:00 AM STAGE: 7.5 FT

• FORECAST TO RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE OF 10.0 FT SUNDAY AFTERNOON
• THEN FORECAST TO RISE TO NEAR 12.1 FT LATE SUNDAY EVENING
• THEN FORECAST TO FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE OF 10.0 FT EARLY MONDAY MORNING
• THEN FORECAST TO RECEDE TO NEAR 8.4 FT LATE MONDAY MORNING

FLOOD STAGE: 10.0 FT

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/rivfcast/SANBUL

I find the NOAA graph to be easier to read. It shows predicted levels a few days out.

http://www.cnrfc.noaa.gov/graphicalRVF.php?id=pohc1

Will this exceed the 100 year flood?

And you can see the snow is melting at Badger Pass: http://pixelcaster.com/aramark/yosemite-ski.jpg?20163111548

No. I just heard that Yosemite Valley residents and employees will be allowed back into the valley Monday morning starting at 10 am. No day/time given for visitors to return.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2017 06:44PM by parklover.

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parklover
No day/time given for visitors to return.

They can't let visitors in until the sewer system isn't overloaded.