Yellowstone park closed for first time in 34 years
Category: Environment/Climate
Via: hallux • 2 years ago • 41 commentsBy: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
All five entrances to Yellowstone National Park in the United States have been closed after record floods triggered by heavy rain and glacier melt destroyed roads and bridges and inundated nearby communities.
The entire park, spanning parts of the western states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, will be closed to visitors including those with lodging and camping reservations, at least until Wednesday as officials inspect the damage, the park superintendent said on Monday.
It is the first time all five park entrances have been closed to visitors since a series of devastating wildfires in 1988.
The National Park Service (NPS) said it was working to evacuate visitors and staff remaining at various locations, especially in the hardest-hit northern part of the iconic park.
“It is likely that the northern loop will be closed for a substantial amount of time,” the park superintendent, Cam Sholly, said in a statement.
Aerial footage released by NPS showed large parts of the winding North Entrance Road between Gardiner and park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming, washed away by surging floodwaters along the Gardner River.
The flooding cut off road access to Gardiner, a town of about 900 people and home to many Yellowstone staff, just outside the park’s North Entrance.
At a cabin in the town, Indiana resident Parker Manning got an up-close view of the water rising and the raging Yellowstone River floodwaters slicing the riverbank just outside his door.
“We started seeing entire trees floating down the river, debris,” Manning told The Associated Press news agency. “Saw one crazy single kayaker coming down through, which was kind of insane.”
Other roads were also washed away or covered in rocks and mud with a number of bridges also damaged, and there were some power cuts in various parts of the 890,000-hectare (2.2 million-acre) park.
The park service said the rain and floods sweeping the park were unprecedented, with the Yellowstone River reaching 4.2 metres (13.8 feet) on Monday, higher than the previous record of 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) set in 1918, according to the National Weather Service.
A sudden spike in summer temperatures over the past three days has also accelerated the melting of snow that had accumulated on the mountains during late winter storms.
“It’s a lot of rain, but the flooding wouldn’t have been anything like this if we didn’t have so much snow,” said Cory Mottice, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Billings, Montana. “This is flooding that we’ve just never seen in our lifetimes before.”
The rain will probably ease while cooler temperatures will reduce snowmelt in coming days, Mottice said.
Yellowstone, established as the world’s first national park in 1872 and treasured as one of the US’s top outdoor travel destinations, is famed for its geysers, abundant wildlife and spectacular scenery.
About four million people a year usually visit the area.
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Glad we pushed through that infrastructure bill that went to waste.
Raging rivers don't care.
Not really surprising , considering just a week ago the area was covered in a late season snow storm that dumped a good amount of heavy wet snow , followed by this last weekend ( 6/11-12 ) which had record high temps for the area , coupled with a few strings of thunderstorms and heavy rain .
When one lives in an area of mountains and rivers , one should expect these things .
Keep in mind all the entrances to the park share something in common , they are all in river valleys close to rivers .
That white stuff up on top of the mountains is not ground up styrofoam , put there to make it look pretty ( believe it or not i have actually heard a tourist suggest it was ).
Seriously??? I worry about people sometime.
I'm saddened to hear about Yellowstone. We spent a few days there on our way back from Alaska. But that heavy snow and then the high temps, and heavy rain make for the trifecta of disasters
Yes TG , i have actually heard one say that , AND I heard a sarcastic wise guy local tell one that we actually have a snow making machine and truck snow up the tetons , in the middle of Aug up a "secret road " on the backside of the mountain . things people WILL believe . some people cant believe that we can get snow in the middle of the summer (Jul/Aug ) and it will stick , they are down low where it can be 90 or 100 degrees , and not realize just how cold it can get up high.
though the best one i heard had to do with religion , it was a predominantly morman valley and they celebrated "pioneer days " celebrating the westward migration of the mormons , well a pretty connected person in the church was visiting and getting rather drunk , when someone asked him why , i listened close , His comment was ," i come over the mountain and to the valley to drink because god cant see over the mountain."
being the smart ass i am , i asked him if he really believed that an all powerful god , supposedly responsable for all creation , that is everywhere , all the time , couldnt see him sinning , from his supposed throne where ever it might be ? The guy had no answer.
Could have heard a pin drop in that bar.
The flooding is going to be bad , but the landslides due to ground saturation is going to make clean up and repair all that much harder .
I love stories that locals tell
A stunningly beautiful area Yellowstone is a series of mountain rivers and valleys and as Mark said snow, high temps, and rain are going to reak havoc. Don't build next to or close to a river, because eventually this will happen.
I came home yesterday after spending a couple days up in the northeast corner of the state for my grandsons birth ( he arrived fri , the 10th about 5PM , 6 lbs 12 oz , 20 inches , mom and son are doing good, and well.) i topped powderhorn pass on 16 ,( you can usually see all the way to the wind river range from there once you get on the tensleep side , about 100 miles away on a clear day ) Nothing but a cloud bank that looked angry , and you could see it dumping moisture .
Got into the wind river canyon south of thermop, and the` river was as high as i had ever seen it since living here even with the dam opened for flushing .
Sounds like a great rainbow trout...Kidding congratulations on a grandson. Is he your first grandchild?
It's been years since I was up around Wind River, beautiful but it can turn dangerous in a hot minute.
Small cuttthroat or brown here, he is number 5, so an old hand at this by now , i just sit back and watch the father to be and the ensuing chaos ....and try not to chuckle .
was hoping he would make his entrance on the 8th , and share a birthday with my departed father , but it wasnt to be .
and thank you for the congrats
Congrats on the grandson!
Thank you .
You have some catching up to do, Mark. I have 4 grandkids, 12 great grandkids and 3 great great grandkids. My own tribe and we have applied for federal recognition.
Now you're just showing off
LOL, it's true and I should be hearing back from the feds re my application for federal recognition soon. I applied as the Wannabe Tribe of Florida.
Wannabe Tribe....giggle snort
I meant you showing off about all your grandchildren. I don't have ANY!
I aint in any rush , but i just barely passed the 60 mark not amonth ago.
I'm 61 1/2 but I got started at a very young age.
and i got started late , oldest grand daughter is only 14 , i hope she stays a kid and enjoys it .
What do you Wannabe?
Federal recognition of the Wannabe Tribe of Florida.
No, not what you want to happen, what do you WannaBE?
The hereditary chief of the Wannabe Tribe of Florida.
I just turned 60 in February. I, too, got a late start. My oldest is 29 and the baby will be 28 in September
On my last birthday I went from 62 1/2 to 61 1/2. I've been doing that for years, it's really cool you should try it.
I wouldn't be fooling anybody
But you CAN'T be the "hereditary" chief because you would be the first such chief which means you didn't inherit the position, which is what "hereditary" chief means. You can be the originating chief - is that okay? Down the road others can inherit that position and be called the hereditary chief.
Nope, since I speak to my ancestors on a regular basis my great grandfather, Thunder Water would be the first Chief (in spirit) so I would be a hereditary chief.
I speak to my ancestors on a regular basis
Do you use a Ouija board?
Okay Chief Wannabe, I'll buy that explanation.
Glaciers in Yellowstone? Yellowstone has been basically ice free for 10 + thousands of years .. however there are areas called ice patches that can last through the summer. The Grand Tetons however have glaciers .. like 11 of them
Not sure what is happening in Wyoming, but Montana is experiencing an amazingly cool year so far - snow in the Mountains and rain in the valleys .. climate change? yeah perhaps, or it could be that this is what normal looks like .. just saying, "when I was a kid..." : )
It is sad to see the destruction from the flood waters, but Yellowstone needed / needs a break from the mass crowds .. Glacier is doing the right thing in order to protect the park, they are limiting the access - one must have a reservation to enter. 'We' scream climate change then bombard places like Yellowstone with 4+ million visitors trampling through its ecosystem each year.. many said visitors act irresponsibly and endanger the parks balance of nature and animal life .... Mother Nature said I have had enough!
Peace!
Im down on the Rez , so pretty much in the middle of the state , and its been cooler the closer you get to the mnts , but its been awfully dry , at least drier than usual and has been for a couple years , this year most of the snow stopped at other mnt ranges ( there are at least 3 seperate ranges for the moisture to get past and dump any kind of precip. from the winds east from here , its considered flat ground and praire.
even being the middle of june , the winds still have a decent cap of snow up real high ( 9-10k+ fasl).
climate change ? the climate on the planet has been changing since day one and not always suitable for human habitation .
i was waiting for you to say you went to school in 5 ft of snow and it was uphill both ways .......
im actually paying more attention to if the yellowstone magma bubble is going to "burp" like Mnt St Helens . it IS actually overdue .
Amen!
Sorry about your lack of rain .. I live in a landlocked fish bowl .. the mountains can push the moisture over the top of us, or sock us in like it is doing now
Haha .. yep, you must have met my parents! : ) They grew up Southeastern Montana .. just a hop skip and jump from Wyoming border .. which is sugar beets, corn and cattle country..
That makes 2 of us ... earth has a special way of taking care of herself, once the ice recedes so far, there is nothing to keep the magma chill below the surface, volcanos erupt and the environment cools once again - I am planning for an ice age!
When Mtn St Helens blew, the valley I live in was like living in twilight for weeks .. we got buried in ash .. if Yellowstone erupts odds are I will not survive the toxicity of it where I live - Mother Nature is a powerful mistress with a short fuse at times : )
Peace ..
It works out , as long as we continue to get late season snow , it melts into water ..
always accentuate the positive , trick is , just be where the water flows to without flooding .
I grew up on the river bottom .. have mad respect for waters power... One of these days the United States will figure out how to pipe flood water to where it is needed - I am not an engineer, but it seems to me if oil can be piped from Canada to the Gulf .............!
I am loving every minute of these late season storms - I can dress for cold, not so much hot....
at least and not get cited for indecent exposure .....
HA! I am def too old for that!
So nobody can get a front seat for the supervolcano. I wonder if the climate extremes and its effects will speed up the inevitability.
Oh I have one , not as good as woody harrelson in 2012 , but if i have enough time to realize whats happening is another matter entirely, ild like to pop a top on a beer at least , before i kiss my tuckus goodbye . dont think ill have time for that either .
It doesn't matter where we'll be - I doubt that anyone's building the "Ark" ships like they did in the movie.