Heat waves, wildfires and now snow in August? California’s summer of extremes continues

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — An unusually cold weather system off the Gulf of Alaska disrupted summer on the West Coast on Saturday, bringing snow to mountains in California and the Pacific Northwest and closing part of a highway through a national park.

Parts of Highway 89 through Lassen Volcanic National Park in California were closed after about 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of snow fell overnight, according to the National Weather Service.

Photos released by the agency and local authorities showed a white blanket high above Mount Rainier in Washington along with a dusting of snow at Minaret Vista, a viewing 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 in 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,” she said in a statement. “It was a day I won’t soon forget and a unique reminder of why I love serving in this area. It’s one of those moments that makes working here so special.”

In northern Nevada, rain fell on the eve of the annual Burning Man festival, forcing organizers to close the entrance gate for most of Saturday before reopening it. Torrential rains disrupted last year’s festival, turning the celebration and its temporary town into a muddy quagmire.

Snow also fell overnight at Mammoth Mountain, a ski destination in California, and the National Weather Service warned hikers and campers to prepare for slippery roads.

The weather service reported record rainfall Saturday in Redding, Red Bluff and Stockton in Northern California, and showers south of Lake Oroville were expected to continue into the evening.

The weather service reported that a light layer of snow fell overnight on the Sierra Nevada ridge around Tioga Pass. According to meteorologists, there has not been snow there in August since 2003.

Tioga Pass rises to over 10,000 feet and serves as the eastern entrance to Yosemite, but is typically closed for much of the year due to winter snow, which can take a month or two to disappear.

Although the start of the ski season is at least several months away, the arrival of winter was welcomed by resorts.

“It’s a cool and windy August day here at Palisades Tahoe, as a storm that could bring our first snowfall of the season approaches this afternoon,” the resort said in a social media post Friday.

“Anomalously cold conditions” will spread across much of the Western United States on Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

Despite the expected rainfall, meteorologists also warned of the danger of fires due to strong gusts of wind associated with the passage of the cold front.

At the same time, a flash flood watch was issued for the area burned by California’s largest wildfire so far this year from Friday morning into Saturday morning.

The Park Fire has spread across more than 671 square miles (1,748 square kilometers) after breaking out in late July near the Central Valley town of Chico and moving up the western slope of the Sierra.

The fire became the fourth largest on record in California, but has recently been largely contained. Islands of vegetation continue to burn within its current perimeter, but evacuation orders have been lifted.

The state’s wildfire season began with a bang amid extreme heat in July. Fires were fueled by dry vegetation that grew during consecutive wet years. Fire activity has recently fallen into a relative lull.

Forecasts call for a rapid return of summer heat as the cold front moves away.

—JOHN ANTCZAK and SOPHIE AUSTIN, The Associated Press

Antczak reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico, contributed to this report.