Grand Canyon National Park officials will close the North Rim for the season Friday afternoon at 5:20 p.m.
The park had initially planned to keep the area open until the end of November.
But a storm set to impact northern Arizona this weekend is expected to bring wintry weather and possible snow to the region.
According to officials the weather shift could create unsafe travel in an area still recovering from last summer’s nearly 150,000-acre Dragon Bravo Fire.
Managers closed the North Rim and parts of the adjacent Kaibab National Forest in July. But on Oct. 1 park officials reopened North Rim viewpoints Cape Royal and Point Imperial after they had fully contained the blaze.
Grand Canyon officials say they tentatively plan to reopen the North Rim on May 15, pending weather, trail conditions, infrastructure readiness and the completion of hazard mitigation.
