YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park officials announced today that the 2019 preseason lottery for Half Dome permits will open at 7 a.m. PDT on Wednesday, Mar. 13. All hikers are required to have permits to ascend the subdome steps and the Half Dome cables when the cables are in place. Park Rangers install the Half Dome cables each spring and ...

MARIPOSA COUNTY – The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) continues its work on an emergency project rehabilitating and repairing both lanes of State Route 140 (SR-140) from Briceburg to Yosemite National Park. The project includes the replacement and repair of culverts and underground drainage systems, removal of potentially hazardous trees and branches, and implementing slope stabilization measures after the Ferguson ...

YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park officials have announced that the 2019 preseason lottery for Half Dome permits will be delayed “due to a transition to a new contracted provider.” The preseason lottery for the popular hike typically opens on Mar. 1. No date has yet been determined as to when the lottery will open this year. All hikers are required ...

YOSEMITE – A 56-year-old visitor was killed while hiking on a closed trail in Yosemite National Park over the weekend, say park officials. At approximately 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24, Xuan Wang, from Cupertino, Calif., was hiking on the Mist Trail when she was struck by falling rock and ice. She succumbed to her injuries soon thereafter. The Mist ...

YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park officials have announced that due to weather conditions, Highway 120 West (Big Oak Flat Road) is temporarily closed, Highway 41 (Wawona Road) is closed from the south entrance to Wawona, and the Glacier Point Road is closed, as is the Yosemite Ski and Snowboard Area. UPDATE 12:47 p.m. – Highway 41 has reopened. R2 chains ...

FRESNO — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is cautioning those who live or work near rivers and streams to be aware of higher flows brought on by recent rains and potentially spilling reservoirs. It is possible that PG&E’s Bass Lake/Crane Valley Dam will reach spill levels Wednesday or Thursday as heavy warm rains melt recent snowfall. Currently the water ...

YOSEMITE – Due to heavy snow accumulation, Highways 41 and 120 are closed within Yosemite National Park. This is a hard closure and will remain in effect until conditions change allowing for safe opening, say park officials. For all current road conditions within the park, call 209-372-0200 (dial 1, then 1 again). For current information on highways near Yosemite, click ...

YOSEMITE – Multiple park facilities, housing units, and the park’s ski area have been significantly impacted by the heavy snowfall the park received earlier this week, say park officials. Yosemite Valley received approximately 18 to 24 inches of snow due to storms Monday through Wednesday, and Yosemite’s high country saw several feet of new snow. The large snowfall amount caused ...

YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park officials have announced that El Portal Road (Highway 140), Wawona Road (Highway 41), and Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120 from the west) have been reopened as of noon today. Tire chains are required. Areas remaining closed for now: Badger Pass Road and Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area All campgrounds Mariposa and Merced Groves of ...

CENTRAL SIERRA – With winter weather presenting challenges for motorists and knocking out power to some areas, PG&E reminds everyone to be prepared. If you check out their online outage map, you will see that the blanket of snow last night caused outages affecting about 35,000 customers in area between the Yosemite and Sierra Divisions, which stretch from Madera north ...