All Yellowstone entrances closed temporarily due to heavy flooding, rockslides, extremely hazardous conditions
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (KIFI) - Massive floodwaters ravaged Yellowstone National Park and nearby communities Monday, washing out roads and bridges, cutting off electricity and forcing visitors to evacuate parts of the iconic park at the height of summer tourist season.
All entrances to Yellowstone were closed due to the deluge, caused by heavy rains and melting snowpack, while park officials ushered tourists out of the most affected areas. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the park and Yellowstone’s gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos of northern Yellowstone showed a landslide, a bridge washed out over a creek, and roads badly undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.
The flooding cut off road access to Gardiner, Montana, a town of about 900 people near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Gardner rivers, just outside Yellowstone’s busy North Entrance.
At a cabin in Gardiner, Parker Manning of Terra Haute, Indiana, got an up-close view of the water rising and the river bank sloughing off in the raging Yellowstone River floodwaters just outside his door.
“We started seeing entire trees floating down the river, debris,” Manning told The Associated Press. “Saw one crazy single kayaker coming down through, which was kind of insane.”
Floodwaters inundated a street in Red Lodge, a Montana town of 2,100 that’s a popular jumping-off point for a scenic, winding route into the Yellowstone high country. Twenty-five miles (40 kilometers) to the northeast, in Joliet, Kristan Apodaca wiped away tears as she stood across the street from a washed-out bridge, The Billings Gazette reported.
The log cabin that belonged to her grandmother, who died in March, flooded, as did the park where Apodaca’s husband proposed.
“I am sixth-generation. This is our home,” she said. “That bridge I literally drove yesterday. My mom drove it at 3 a.m. before it was washed out.”
Yellowstone officials were evacuating the northern part of the park, where roads may remain impassable for a substantial length of time, park Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement.
But the flooding affected the rest of the park, too, with park officials warning of yet higher flooding and potential problems with water supplies and wastewater systems at developed areas.
“We will not know timing of the park’s reopening until flood waters subside and we’re able to assess the damage throughout the park,” Sholly said in the statement.
The park's gates will be closed at least through Wednesday, officials said.
The rains hit right as summer tourist season was ramping up. June, at the onset of an annual wave of over 3 million visitors that doesn’t abate until fall, is one of Yellowstone’s busiest months.
Remnants of winter — in the form of snow still melting off and rushing off the mountains — made for an especially bad time to get heavy rain.
Yellowstone got 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) of rain Saturday, Sunday and into Monday. The Beartooth Mountains northeast of Yellowstone got as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service.
“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 likely abate while cooler temperatures lessen snowmelt in coming days, Mottice said.
The flooding happened while other parts of the U.S. burned in hot and dry weather. More than 100 million Americans were being warned to stay indoors as a heat wave settles over states stretching through parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and east to the Carolinas.
Elsewhere in the West, crews from California to New Mexico battled wildfires in hot, dry and windy weather.
Scientists say climate change is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme events such as storms, droughts, floods and wildfires, though single weather events usually cannot be directly linked to climate change without extensive study.
UPDATE 2:15 p.m. Effective immediately, there will be no inbound visitor traffic at any of the five entrances into Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday, June 14, and Wednesday, June 15, at a minimum.
“Due to record flooding events in the park and more precipitation in the forecast, we have made the decision to close Yellowstone to all inbound visitation," Superintendent Cam Sholly said. "Our first priority has been to evacuate the northern section of the park where we have multiple road and bridge failures, mudslides and other issues. The community of Gardiner is currently isolated, and we are working with the county and State of Montana to provide necessary support to residents, who are currently without water and power in some areas. Due to predictions of higher flood levels in areas of the park’s southern loop, in addition to concerns with water and wastewater systems, we will begin to move visitors in the southern loop out of the park later today in coordination with our in-park business partners. We will not know timing of the park’s reopening until flood waters subside and we're able to assess the damage throughout the park. It is likely that the northern loop will be closed for a substantial amount of time. I appreciate the efforts of the Yellowstone team and partners to safely evacuate areas of the park and of our gateway community partners who are helping us through this major event. We appreciate the support offered by the Department of Interior, National Park Service and the Montana and Wyoming governors."
UPDATE 11:15 a.m. Effective immediately, all entrances to Yellowstone National Park are temporarily closed due to substantial flooding, rockslides and mudslides on roadways from recent unprecedented amounts of rainfall and flooding.
Effective immediately, no inbound visitor traffic will be allowed into the park until conditions stabilize and the park can assess damage to roads and bridges and other facilities. This includes visitors with lodging and camping reservations.
Closed entrances include:
- North
- Northeast
- West
- South
- East
The power is out in multiple locations in the park.
Visitors planning on coming to Yellowstone in the upcoming weeks should pay close attention to the status of road conditions.
Many park roads may remain closed for an extended period of time.
Preliminary assessments show multiple sections of roads throughout the park have been either washed out or covered in mud or rocks, and multiple bridges may be affected.
Multiple roads in the southern portion of the park are also on the verge of being flooded, further restricting access.
With additional rainfall forecasted, the park does not want large numbers of day-use visitors stranded in the park.
Strains on wastewater and water treatment facilities could become a factor and the park is taking precautions to ensure facilities are not failing.
The National Park Service, surrounding counties and state of Montana and Wyoming will work with the gateway communities to evaluate flooding impacts and provide support to residents.
Rainfall is expected to continue for the next several days. Flood levels measured on the Yellowstone River are beyond record levels.
Stay informed about up-to-date road conditions in Yellowstone:
- Visit Park Roads.
- To receive Yellowstone road alerts on your mobile phone, text “82190” to 888-777 (an automatic text reply will confirm receipt and provide instructions).
- Call (307) 344-2117 for a recorded message.
ORIGINAL 10 a.m.: Effective immediately, roads in the northern portion of Yellowstone National Park are temporarily closed due to substantial flooding, rockslides and mudslides on roadways from recent unprecedented amounts of rainfall.
The following roads are temporarily closed:
- North Entrance (Gardiner, Montana) to Mammoth Hot Springs
- Mammoth Hot Springs to Tower-Roosevelt
- Tower-Roosevelt to the Northeast Entrance
- Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris Junction
- Canyon Junction to Tower-Roosevelt
Some of these roads may remain closed for an extended period of time.
Preliminary assessments show multiple sections of road in the park have been washed out between Gardiner and Cooke City, Montana and multiple bridges may be affected.
Visitors currently in the northern portion of the park are being evacuated.
US Highway 89 S is closed at Yankee Jim Canyon due to approximately 3 feet of water on the road. Check the Montana Department of Transportation for road updates.
The National Park Service, Park County, Montana, and state will work with the communities of Gardiner, Silver Gate and Cooke City to evaluate flooding impacts and provide support to residents.
Crews will begin to assess damage in the southern portion of the park soon.
Rainfall is expected to continue for the next several days.
Stay informed about up-to-date road conditions in Yellowstone:
- Visit Park Roads.
- To receive Yellowstone road alerts on your mobile phone, text “82190” to 888-777 (an automatic text reply will confirm receipt and provide instructions).
- Call (307) 344-2117 for a recorded message.
Yellowstone will continue to communicate about this hazardous situation as more information is available.
