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Showing posts from September, 2022
Yellowstone Notebook
New remote 5-acre wildfire in northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park - NPS
NEWS RELEASE New remote 5-acre wildfire in northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park The Big Horn Fire, a remote wildfire located in steep, rocky terrain in the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park NPS/Jess Page On the afternoon of Sept. 27, individuals in Tom Miner Basin, Montana (an area located just north of Yellowstone National Park’s northwest boundary), reported seeing smoke in Yellowstone. The park’s helicopter crew flew the area that evening and spotted a new fire, likely ignited by lightning several days prior. Estimated at 5 acres, the Big Horn Fire is in very steep, rugged and rocky terrain in the remote northwest corner of the park. See photos . Fire crews will monitor t...
The melting roads of Yellowstone National Park - Caldera Chronicles
The melting roads of Yellowstone National Park Perhaps you’ve heard the legend of the melting roads in Yellowstone National Park. The rumor is based in truth but, as you might expect, badly misrepresented. It has nothing to do with potential volcanic activity; rather, thermal ground and asphalt don’t play well together and pose a considerable challenge for road maintenance and engineering. Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Michael Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. No doubt you’ve heard the story—roads have melted in Yellowstone National Park, which is supposedly evidence that the region is “heating up” and that a volcanic eruption is imminent. This story gained a lot of traction in 2014—that was the year of a magnitude-4.8 earthquake (the larg...
Yellowstone visitation statistics for August 2022 [37% decrease from August 2021]- NPS
NEWS RELEASE Yellowstone visitation statistics for August 2022 Yellowstone Revealed: Patti Baldes' ReMatriate performance at Old Faithful NPS / Jacob W. Frank MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – Yellowstone National Park hosted 582,211 recreation visits in August 2022. This is a 37% decrease from August 2021 (921,844 recreational visits), the most-visited August on record, and a 29% decrease from August 2019 (820,006), the last year pre-COVID. On June 13, all entrances to Yellowstone National Park closed due to historic flooding . Park visitors were evacuated over the next 24 hours. On June 22, the East, South and West entrances to the park reopened on a limited entry basis. On July 2, entry restrictions on the East, South and West entrances were removed. The North (Gardiner, Montana) and Northeast (Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana) entrances remain closed to visitor vehicles. As the park recovers from the June fl...
Temporary closure at West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park - NPS
NEWS RELEASE Temporary closure at West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park Steamy boardwalk at West Thumb Geyser Basin NPS / Jacob W. Frank News Release Date: September 12, 2022 Contact: Morgan Warthin , (307) 344-2015 West Thumb Geyser Basin , located in the southern part of Yellowstone National Park, will be closed until further notice due to hazardous conditions. On Tuesday, Sept. 6, Northwestern Energy staff reported smoke coming out of a small building near the bookstore that houses a solar battery energy storage system at West Thumb Geyser Basin. Park structural fire crews were notified and dispatched to the location. They did not see flames when they arrived, but there was smoke. The exterior of the building was not damaged. Battery fumes are corrosive and hazardous when inhaled. To ensure visitor and employee safety, West Thumb Geyser Basin will be closed until the batteries have f...
Flood Recovery Updates: Yellowstone releases new videos and photos of ongoing road repairs - NPS
NEWS RELEASE Flood Recovery Updates: Yellowstone releases new videos and photos of ongoing road repairs to reconnect Gardiner, Montana, at North Entrance to Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana, at Northeast Entrance with the park Old Gardiner Road (temporary road between Gardiner, Montana, and Mammoth Hot Springs) construction progress on Sept. 1, 2022. NPS / Jacob W. Frank UPDATE: Sept. 1, 2022 Yellowstone releases new videos and photos of ongoing road repairs to reconnect Gardiner, Montana, at North Entrance to Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana, at Northeast Entrance with the park MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – Yellowstone National Park released new videos and photos of the ongoing road repairs on the North and Northeast entrance roads following damage caused by the historic flood event in June. Visit Yellowstone’s Flickr albums for Old Gardiner Road and Northeast Entrance Road to view photos and videos of recent construction progress on these road corr...