Headed to Yosemite? What to know about road and weather conditions
One of the biggest storms of the year brought snow to Yosemite Valley this week, covering the popular destination in Yosemite National Park with a thick coat of white.
Glacier Point Road beyond Badger Pass is now closed due to snow, as is Tioga Road, which crosses over the Sierra in the park. The park’s Hetch Hetchy and Mariposa Grove roads are also closed.
The Nordic Center at Badger Pass Ski Area along Glacier Point Road is now scheduled to open Saturday for cross-country ski and snowshoe rentals. Work plowing snow off parking lots delayed a planned Friday opening. Downhill skiing and snowboarding there is expected to start Dec. 24.
Yosemite Valley and many other parts of the park remain accessible. Day-use reservations are no longer needed to enter Yosemite.
When storms hit, snow tire chains or cables are often required for all without all-wheel and four-wheel drive, or are required to be carried by everyone just in case. This usually happens between November and March. Snowplows are active clearing roads when it snows.
On Wednesday, much of the Wawona Road, which extends from Yosemite’s south entrance to Yosemite Valley (Highway 41 outside the park) was covered with a thin layer of snow and ice, but was easily passable for all-wheel and four-wheel-drive vehicles without tire chains or cables.
Check Yosemite road and chain conditions on the park’s website, nps.gov/yose, and by calling 209-372-0200, then pressing 1 and 1 again. Information about highway conditions and restrictions outside Yosemite are available on the Caltrans website or by calling 800-427-7623.
Mostly sunny conditions have followed the heavy snowfall, but the park should get more precipitation the week of Christmas.
Will there be a white Christmas in Yosemite?
It’s unlikely Yosemite Valley, which sits at about 4,000 feet in elevation, will get more snow early next week, but higher Sierra Nevada locations, around 6,000 feet and above, can expect one to two feet of new snow from Tuesday through Thursday, said meteorologist David Spector with the National Weather Service at Hanford. An earlier forecast showed a lower snowline, but that’s changed, Spector said.
He said another storm is expected next Friday that will move out Christmas day. It should be colder than the one earlier in the week, but it’s too soon to say how much precipitation it could bring, or how low the snow will fall.
Tuesday’s storm, which brought up to an estimated foot of snow to Yosemite Valley, was among the year’s three strongest storms in the region, Spector said. The storm that followed the next day only brought another two to four inches of snow at higher elevations, he added.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Headed to Yosemite? What to know about road and weather conditions."
