California summer extremes: heatwaves, wildfires, and unusual August snow
- Rare August cold front brings snow to California mountains and the Pacific northwest, prompting cooler temperatures across the West Coast
An unusually cold weather system from the Gulf of Alaska interrupted summer along the West Coast on Saturday, bringing snow to mountains in California and the Pacific northwest and prompting the closure of part of a highway that runs through a national park.
Parts of Highway 89 through Lassen Volcanic National Park in California were shut down after an estimated 3 inches (7.6 centimetres) of snow fell overnight, according to the National Weather Service.
Photos posted by the agency and local authorities showed a high-elevation blanket of white on Mount Rainier in Washington along with a dusting of snow at Minaret Vista, a lookout point southeast of Yosemite National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada.
Madera County Deputy Sheriff Larry Rich said it was “definitely unexpected” to see snow at Minaret Vista in August.
“It’s not every day you get to spend your birthday surrounded by a winter wonderland in the middle of summer,” he said in a statement. “It made for a day I won’t soon forget, and a unique reminder of why I love serving in this area. It’s just one of those moments that makes working up here so special.”
In northern Nevada, rain fell in the run-up to the annual Burning Man festival, prompting organisers to close the entrance gate for most of Saturday before reopening. Torrential rains upended last year’s festival, turning the celebration and its temporary city into a muddy quagmire.