Yellowstone Sees Drop in Visitation Partly Because of Storms

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — Partly because of late spring snowstorms, fewer people visited Yellowstone National Park in May when compared with a year ago.

But it was still the second busiest May on record at the world's first national park. Yellowstone hosted more than 419,600 visits during May, down 5.6 percent from May 2016's 444,600 visits. Park managers noted that snow closed roads in the park last month, although they say many factors could also be involved.

So far this year, the park has counted more than 550,000 visitors, down 7.3 percent from the same period in 2016, which was the National Park Service centennial year.