Yosemite National Park is bracing for yet another winter storm to hit this weekend.
The National Weather Service reported Thursday that a winter storm watch had been updated to a winter storm warning. The warning covers regions above 5,000 feet, which includes the Sierra Nevada region, including Yosemite. The weather service warned that travel during this time is "highly discouraged."
"Don't get too excited for spring weather quite yet. A winter storm warning is in effect starting tomorrow evening, Friday, March 22 through Sunday, March 24," Yosemite said in an update. "Forecasts call for heavy rain and some snow in Yosemite Valley with larger amounts of snow along Wawona Road (extension of Highway 41) and Big Oak Flat Road (extension of Highway 120). Tire chains will be required. For road conditions, including closures and chain restrictions, please call our road status phoneline anytime at 209/372-0200 (then press 1 and 1 again)."
The central Sierra, which includes Yosemite National Park, is under the warning from 5 p.m. Friday until 5 p.m. Sunday.
That portion of the Sierra could see up to 2 to 3 feet of snow, the weather service reported.
At the beginning of this month, the park told all visitors to evacuate prior to a blizzard. The National Weather Service issued the rare blizzard warning after forecasts predicted very high probabilities" of snowfall exceeding 48 inches for certain portions of the Sierra Nevada.
Following the blizzard, rangers reported 47 inches of new snow in the Tuolumne Meadows area of the park. An update issued on March 20 reported 52 inches of settled snow depth. It remains to be seen how deep the snow will be following this weekend's storm.
The storms mean good things for California's snowpack, which feeds the state's reservoirs and rivers when it melts in the spring. For a region that has been plagued by drought in recent years, the more snowpack, the better the water supply. However, the conditions can be highly disruptive for residents.
Through this year, the globe is seeing an El Nino weather pattern, meaning wetter weather on the West Coast is expected.
However, experts have also put an increase in extreme weather events down to climate change, as they seem to be intensifying around the globe.
Last year, the state was battered by intense winter storms and precipitation that brought a record amount of snowpack in the surrounding mountains. Snowpack is not nearly the level it was last year, but it will still be helpful for water supply.
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