Three of California's high Sierra passes are closing on Wednesday as the season's first significant snowstorm moves in, with Tioga Road through Yosemite National Park shutting at 5 p.m. on October 21 and no reopening time announced, the National Park Service said.
Source: National Park Service via Ad Hoc News
Caltrans is also closing Sonora Pass on Highway 108 and Ebbetts Pass on Highway 4 on Wednesday morning and plans to keep both in intermittent closure status until crews can check the roads after the storm, according to reporting by myMotherLode cited by Men's Journal. Park crews will likewise need to assess Tioga Road for damage, hazards and debris before it can reopen.
Source: Men's Journal
Up to 10 inches of snow above 8,000 feet
The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a winter weather advisory for Mono County above 8,000 feet — including Mammoth Lakes, Lee Vining, Bridgeport and Coleville — forecasting 4 to 8 inches of snow, up to 10 inches on the highest peaks, and winds gusting to 40 mph from Wednesday afternoon into Thursday evening. The NWS in Hanford, covering Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia, put the chance of 4 inches or more along Tioga Pass and Highway 120 at about 80 percent, Autoblog reported.
Forecasters say the hazardous conditions will affect the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes, with slick roads expected on bridges, overpasses and mountain highways. Drivers crossing the Sierra — including truckers who use the high routes as alternatives when Interstate 80 is congested — should check Caltrans and park road conditions before travelling; Yosemite's road information line is 209-372-0200.
The rest of Yosemite remains open through its other entrances: Yosemite Valley can still be reached from the west by El Portal Road and from the south by Wawona Road, and Highway 120 from the west uses the Big Oak Flat route. Tioga Road, which crosses Tioga Pass at 9,945 feet and serves Tuolumne Meadows and Tenaya Lake, is the park's direct east-west crossing to the eastern Sierra.