Yosemite Braces for Flooding as Snowpack Melts

Yosemite National Park is expecting flooding as a record amount of snowpack in the area begins to melt.

Water levels in the Merced River, which flows through the park, have been on the rise as warmer temperatures start to melt the huge influx of snow that California, previously in a drought, saw in recent months.

The National Weather Service predicted that in some areas, the Merced River could reach 12.5 feet during the first week of May. The river reaches a flooding level when it's at 10 feet. This means that Yosemite will be closed to visitors as the flooding takes place.

Visitors are currently flocking to the park before it closes to see the sights, including its famed waterfalls which are currently a lot fuller than usual. One visitor took to Twitter to share a video of Yosemite Falls crashing down.

"It was so powerful it was generating its own wind! Never saw it like that ever! That's lower falls. They are closing Yosemite valley down Friday due to Merced River flooding the valley," the caption said.

Most of the park is due to close on April 28 due to the floods.

The Western Yosemite Valley will remain open, though it could close later on, Yosemite National Park said on Facebook. The park has also warned that amid the flooding, emergency responses could be delayed. For this reason, they are asking visitors to take extra caution.

"Rivers in Yosemite will be flowing very high and will be extremely dangerous. Do not enter or approach them," the park said in a statement.

Flooding has occurred throughout much of the southwest recently due to the increased snowpack. Extremely wet weather fell on the region from the end of December to early Spring, causing a record snowpack to accumulate in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where Yosemite is located.

Towards the end of the wet weather in late March, the Southern Sierra Nevada from San Joaquin and Mono counties to Kern County, had a snowpack level 257 percent greater than average for this time of year, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources.

The Central Sierra and Northern Sierras also accumulated much higher snowpack levels, at 218 percent and 168 percent of the average for this time of the year.

However now as the weather warms, all this snowpack will melt quickly. This means there will be too much water for the state to cope with.

Another example of this severe flooding is being seen at Tulare Lake, a dry lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley. The lake has over spilled and it has caused devastation to the surrounding agricultural lands.

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