Yosemite National Park is closed INDEFINTELY as it breaks 54-year-old snowfall record

Yosemite National Park closed indefinitely this week after record-breaking snowfall dropped 'dangerous' levels of snow across the park.

Up to 40 inches of snow fell across the valley floor, breaking a 54-year snowfall record, while up to 15-feet of snow buried mountainsides in the park's higher elevations.

When winter storms were forecast last weekend, the park initially said it would close through Thursday. But after the massive accumulation the storms ultimately brought, officials announced the park would close due to the dangerous conditions without saying when it might reopen.

Yosemite officials said it was the most snow any of them had ever seen at the park in their lifetimes, photos showed doors blocked from top to bottom with snow, roads vanished under drifts, and structures laden heavily with layers of accumulation.

Beyond the national park, historic snows up to seven feet fell across California, prompting Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency to help citizens who have been trapped in their homes behind walls of snow.

Piles of snow on the roof of a Yosemite National Park structure on February 28

Tents at Yosemite buried under feet of snow after this week's massive storms

The snowfall at Yosemite broke a more than half-century record for the most accumulation in a day at the park.

Storms hit the park on both Monday and Wednesday leading to accumulation that broke records by several inches.

The previous record for snow on the valley floor was set in February 1969 when there was 36-inches of accumulation. 

Park officials said this week's snowfall left travel within the park very dangerous in most places, and impossible in others. 

A spokesperson for Yosemite and ranger at the park for 27-years, Scott Gediman, said it was the most snow he and his colleagues had ever seen.

'In all of my years here, this is the most snow that I've ever seen at one time,' he told the Los Angeles Times.

'This is the most any of us have ever seen,' he added.

Forecasts suggest up to six feet of more accumulation could fall, and winds could gust up to 75 miles per hour this week. 

A frozen tunnel at Yosemite National Park after last week's snow storms

Roads closed at Yosemite National Park due to debris from last week's storms

The Yosemite Valley Chapel at Yosemite Park in California covered in snow

In addition to the storms this week, Yosemite was hit with a storm which dumped snow last Friday and Saturday.

Gediman told the LA Times it was difficult to determine which storm dropped more as this week's fell so shortly after. 

'There's just a huge amount of snow everywhere,' Gediman said.

He pointed out that the park's ski slopes hadn't seen significant snow in the past five years, but that now within a week the snowpack was at the level of the chairlifts and had reached the second-floor of the sky lodge.

Officials are focusing their efforts on clearing roads, and removing snow from the tops of structures that could be damaged from the significant weight.

They are also trying to restore power to parts of the park. No injuries from the storm were reported.

'What we're doing is literally taking it one day at a time,' Gediman told the LA Times. 'We're just digging out and doing the best we can to remove the snow and get the park ready for visitors in a safe manner.'

He said he was unable to give an estimate for when the park would reopen. 

A creek at Yosemite National Park covered in snow after last week's snow storms

The Yosemite National Park Village Store covered in snow during last week's storms

A man clears snow from a patio at Yosemite National Park after last week's snow storms