Yosemite Valley Braces for More Flooding as Heat Melts Snowpack

With hot weather hitting and a deep Sierra snowpack waiting to melt, Yosemite National Park officials were gearing up Friday for another potential round of flooding in the heavily visited valley.

Park officials said temperatures in the 80s were expected this weekend, creating the possibility that heavy snowmelt could raise the Merced River and its tributaries above flood stage.

Meanwhile, state water officials continued to keep an eye on Northern California rivers -- including the Feather, Sacramento and American -- swollen by melting snow and spring thunderstorms crawling across the mountains.

Although no flooding was anticipated, authorities said they were taking care to time releases from dams to stay ahead of the runoff. So far, the only hard-hit spot has been Yosemite. Rain and melting snow combined Monday to cause the worst flooding in the Yosemite Valley in eight years.

Although there was no damage to roads or structures, water pooled over pavement, uprooted campers and prompted officials to shut down the valley for a day.

Some visitors were stranded, and others couldn’t get in until the water receded.

Adrienne Freeman, a park spokeswoman, said the river and creeks could rise above the high-water mark through Monday morning. The key factor will be heat.

“We can’t be 100% sure what the weather will be. Nobody but Mother Nature knows that,” she said. “We want people to come up. We just don’t want anyone to be trapped inside the valley.”

Although no one expects dangerous conditions akin to the calamitous floods of 1997, which wiped out cabins and uprooted roads and campgrounds in the valley, pooling water could once again cut off roads.

Visitors are being advised to check on conditions by either calling the automated road conditions number, (209) 372-0200, or checking the park’s web page, www.nps.gov/yose.

Several dozen campsites could be affected by high water, Freeman said.

She added that spring flooding is a natural process in the valley. Other portions of the park are unaffected.