Heavy rain closes Yosemite Park

Yosemite National Park is closing to visitors ahead of a spring storm that is expected to bring flooding to the popular valley floor.

Visitors will no longer be able to enter Yosemite Valley starting at noon Friday, and tourists who are already there will be asked to leave at 5 p.m. No services will be available.

Park officials say some areas will reach flood stage starting Friday afternoon, with water expected to peak around noon Saturday.

Yosemite initially announced it was canceling campground reservations but then upgraded the warnings.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch.

Officials in Northern California also are monitoring the nation’s tallest dam, where the partially rebuilt spillway may be used for the first time since its near-collapse in February 2017.