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Mandatory Evacuation Notice Issued For Non-Essential Personnel In Yosemite Valley

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Rain and fog filled the Yosemite Valley on Saturday in advance of heavier precipitation that was expected to push the Merced River high above flood stage/NPS

Non-essential personnel in Yosemite National Park's iconic valley were ordered to leave by 4 p.m. Saturday ahead of a potent winter storm that was predicted to push the Merced River high above flood stage.

The mandatory evacuation order was issued by the Mariposa County sheriff's office.

"This decision was made based on high projected water levels and the high likelihood of utility system failures," read the order.

Weather forecasts predicted that by early Sunday afternoon the Merced River would crest at approximately eight feet above flood stage at the Pohono Bridge on the west end of the Yosemite Valley. The projected crest, at 18.4 feet, is roughly five feet below the 23-foot crest that occurred during the catastrophic flooding in January 1997.

On Friday the National Park Service closed all roads leading into the Yosemite Valley at 5 p.m., a closure that was to last until Monday at the earliest.

Comments

Extreme drought to extreme deluges...just like some climate scientists have predicted.  This has happened in many other areas of the country over the last decade, that it's a pattern worth noting.


Mandatory evacuation order issued by Maricopa County Sheriff?????

Maricopa County is Phoenix.  Yosemite is Mariposa.  I thought Yosemite was exclusive NPS jurisdiction.  What's up?


.just like some climate scientists have predicted

And as everyone else has predicted.  Has happened for millions of years before carbon fuels and will happen for millions of years after carbon fuels. Hay, I don't believe in AGW and predict the sun will come up tomorrow.  If I am right about the sun, does that mean there is no AGW?


Thanks Lee. Proof of why we need to expand the Traveler's staff.


Actually, an increase in extreme rainfall is one of the effects of a warming climate.  Many times over the last decade we have seen patterns of extreme drought bouncing to extreme rain on an amplified level as the climate continues to warm.  Cyclical patterns seem to indicate this, and these sort of events are increasing as we pump a higher dosage of emissions into the atmosophere.  These cycles are amplifying, and not decreasing.  Anyway, carry on.

http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights/report-findings/extreme-weather


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droughts_in_the_United_States#/media/File:...

Check the chart - no discernable increase in either frequency or intensity. In fact the droughts of th 30s and 40s were worse. 


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