[ad_1]
The park — which spans parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho — and many surrounding towns have been inundated with record rainfall and flooding since last weekend, prompting officials to close all entrances to Yellowstone.
“At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, June 22, Yellowstone National Park will begin allowing visitors access to the park’s southern loop,” the park said in a statement. “The southern loop is accessed from east (Cody), west (west of Yellowstone), and south (Grand Teton/Jackson). Accessible areas include Madison, Old Faithfull, Grant Village, Lake Village, Canyon Village and Norris.”
To make sure the South Loop isn’t overwhelmed by visitors, the park said it will use an alternative license plate system:
- Vehicles with license plates ending in an odd number can visit on odd days of the month
- Vehicles with license plates ending in an even number, including zero, can enter even days of the month.
Yellowstone officials said that during the North Loop closure, “park staff engaged more than 1,000 business owners, park partners, commercial operators, and residents of surrounding gate communities to determine how to manage summer visits.”
In a three-day period last week, Yellowstone National Park received nearly two to three times the usual rainfall for the entire month of June.
Precipitation this month is already more than 400% of average in northwest Wyoming and southern Montana, according to the National Weather Service.
At one point, the Yellowstone River swelled to its highest level in more than 100 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[ad_2]
