Yosemite National Park Closed Indefinitely Following Record-Breaking Snowfall

Tatiana Tenreyro
·1 min read
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The park has been closed since February 25.

Yosemite National Park is closed indefinitely amid the winter storm that hit the West Coast.

In a tweet from February 28, Yosemite National Park shared an update on the park's closure, announcing that the park had been closed few several days and would remain so for an indeterminate amount of time.

"Yosemite has experienced significant snowfall in all areas of the park, with snow up to 15 feet deep in some areas and the park’s closure on Feb. 25," the update read. "Park crews are working to restore critical services so visitors can safely return. There is no estimated date for reopening."

According to The LA Times, Yosemite Valley got about 40 inches of snow, breaking a historic record for the area; the previous record was set at 36 inches in Feb. of 1969.

"In all my years here, this is the most snow that I've ever seen at one time," said Yosemite's spokesman and ranger Scott Gediman, who has spent over 20 years working at the park.

"Over the past week or so, here in Yosemite National Park, along with the Sierra Nevada, [we have] been receiving record amounts of snowfall," he added. "There's just a huge amount of snow everywhere."

Gediman also explained why the park is temporarily closed to The New York Times.

"The bottom line is that we are working hard to do this, but we can’t have visitors in until it is safe,” said the spokesman.

"Plus, it's freezing," he added. "The entire region is impacted, not just us."