This year has been historic for Yellowstone National Park in more ways than one. Founded in 1872, America’s first national park is celebrating its 150th anniversary. It also experienced historic flooding, with rivers cresting at heights not seen in 100 years.
In the second week of June 2022, an atmospheric river—a narrow band of tropical moisture—soaked the Pacific Northwest before dumping several inches of rain on northern Wyoming and southern Montana. The inundation coincided with a warm spell that exacerbated melting of the heavy snowpack.
“This led to flooding rarely or never seen before across many area rivers and streams,” according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Billings, Montana.
On June 13, park officials closed Yellowstone—which spans 2.2 million acres (8,900 square kilometers) in northwest Wyoming, southwest Montana, and eastern Idaho—and announced the evacuation of more than 10,000 visitors due to safety concerns. Campsites were flooded, roads were washed out, and rocks tumbled onto roadways.
Read more at: NASA Earth Observatory
Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory