At a time when Yosemite National Park is typically preparing for the summer season, the mountains and granite monoliths surrounding the majestic valley are coated in fresh white powder. If you were standing atop Half Dome today, you might feel as if you were in the center of a snow globe.

The winter-like conditions arrived when a moisture-rich storm swept the Sierra on Wednesday through early Friday morning, blasting higher elevations with powder. There's more snow expected Saturday through Monday.

"As you drive into the valley and gaze up at Cook's Meadow at the higher points, you see lots of snow," said park spokesperson Jamie Richards. "It is beautiful in Yosemite National Park."

Light snow flurries are typical in the Sierra in May, but snow dumps in mid-May aren't the norm.

"I'd say it's unusual to see this amount of snow up there at this time of year," says Bill South, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Hanford. "Usually, the season ends in middle to late April."

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South says exact snowfall totals aren't available, because the two weather spotters who offer reports from Tuolumne Meadows were not in the park this week. However, a nearby Fresno County location in the high Sierra at 7,400 feet in elevation received two feet of snow. South thinks Yosemite's peaks saw a similar total. The valley floor saw rain, not snow.

Ahead of the unsettled weather, Glacier Point Road was closed. With two more systems set to slam the Sierra, it's unknown when it will reopen. Coincidentally, the closure came less than a week after Yosemite announced the clearing of the 16-mile-long road in preparation for the summer season.

The park is advising travelers to prepare for winter conditions through the weekend and into early next week for those driving along the El Portal Road (Highway 140), Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120 W) and Wawona Road (Highway 41). Chains may be required and roads temporarily closed.

Tioga Road, also known as Highway 120, traverses the park and has been closed since the start of winter. There's no projected date for an opening.

"Late spring storms are not unheard of," says Richards. "This storm was cold, which results in snow at the higher elevations. They don't happen as often."

All of this late precipitation is helping fuel the park's waterfalls and Richards says they're running at high levels.