What the huge Sierra snowpack means for Yosemite’s waterfalls
The massive snowpack in the Sierra Nevada this year has done more than end California’s drought and boost the fortunes of Lake Tahoe ski resorts. It’s also having major impacts on the state’s most famous park, Yosemite. The park’s world-famous waterfalls are thundering now as billions of gallons of melted snow cascade 1,000 feet or more down sheer granite cliffs. But park officials say there is so much snow at higher elevations from the winter’s parade of atmospheric river storms that flooding in Yosemite Valley is likely between late April and early July, which could close the park at times. … Work to clear the Tioga Road into Yosemite’s back country began Monday, and this year it’s likely that the public won’t be able to drive there or to the end of Glacier Point Road until after July 1, the latest ever, park officials say.
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- Earth Sky: California flood risk rises as snow melts
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