In Yosemite National Park, hikers were surprisingly soaked this weekend as summer storms blew through the area. Meanwhile, thunderstorms across California’s mountains launched rapid-fire lightning strikes that sparked several forest fires. And as Burning Man kicked off in Nevada’s desert northwest, a major dust storm forced traffic to a halt as attendees tried to avoid the desert’s wrath.
The impetus for this widespread wild weather was a late-arriving monsoonal pattern, fueled by the region’s lingering heat that pulled atmospheric moisture north — and, with it, instability.
“When you add in moisture and a lot of heat, that’s when you get the potential for these thunderstorms,” said Edan Lindaman, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Reno.
Forecasters had warned that a “monsoonal surge” kicking off Saturday would bring a strong chance for thunderstorms that could create gusty winds, dangerous dry lightning and even some brief downpours. And that’s exactly what played out, particularly across California’s interior mountains and into the eastern deserts.
On Saturday, major winds threw dust and debris across Nevada’s remote deserts, creating hazards from Boulder City in the south up to the Black Rock Desert in the north, where thousands of creatives and others from around the world had started gathering for Burning Man. The ferocious dust storm around the event’s temporary Black Rock City forced organizers to shutter the event’s gates and its nearby airport as the weather service warned of a “wall of blowing dust.” There were several reported injuries.
The storm produced winds up to 50 mph Saturday and just below that Sunday, Lindaman said.
To the southeast in the Sierra Nevada, rare August rain fell across parts of the range this weekend, with one-10th of an inch falling in the Yosemite Valley and more than 2 inches at some of the park’s higher elevations, according to the weather service. There were also reports of minor flooding near Lake Isabella in Kern County that temporarily closed at least one road.
In many areas, the thunderstorms dropped little or no rain but brought lightning strikes flashing across the sky from interior Southern California to the northern Sierras this weekend. The U.S. Forest Service reported more than 10,000 lightning strikes within a 24-hour period Saturday and Sunday, but said “thanks to aggressive initial attack we only have one new significant fire.”
That major blaze, the Garnet fire, took off Sunday afternoon in the Sierra National Forest, surging to almost 4,500 acres as of Monday morning, according to fire officials. Officials have not yet determined its cause.
In the Angeles National Forest, officials recorded at least five lightning-sparked fires over the weekend, though none grew beyond an acre. David Gomberg, a weather service meteorologist in Oxnard, attributed that to preparation before the storms by forecasters and fire officials.
“When these events do happen and we get these small fires that are kept small, that’s the ideal situation we’re hoping for,” Gomberg said. “With the fuels being dry and the fact we haven’t had much rainfall [in Southern California] … the vegetation is extremely receptive right now.”
Though storms fueled by monsoonal moisture are normal for California’s interior and surrounding deserts this time of year, it’s unusual for the first one of the year to arrive this late in the season, experts say.
“Normally the monsoon pattern for Southern California is most prominent anywhere from July to early September,” Gomberg said. “It’s been very slow to start this year, but now we’re in August and we’re finally getting some activity.”
This wave of storms was fueled by the hot and dry weather over the U.S. Southwest, which brought record-setting heat to the region for almost a week. Even as the heat is forecast to continue letting up over the next few days, officials warn that the humid, monsoonal pattern is not yet passed. Elevated temperatures will remain across the region until at least Wednesday, as will the threat for thunderstorms, which can bring dry lightning, erratic winds and the chance for flooding.
“We really have probably two more days, today and tomorrow, that look like pretty good chances for monsoonal thunderstorms,” Gomberg said Monday. He said scattered storms are possible across the Southern California interior, but no formal advisories have been issued.
Farther north, the weather service has warned of flooding concerns. The Yosemite Valley, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Mammoth Lakes and much of the Sierra foothills remained under a flood watch Monday, as the chance for additional heavy storms persisted. The Tahoe basin was under a flash flood watch Monday with the chance of “excessive rainfall” that could cause flooding or debris flows, especially along burn scars, the weather service warned.
In northwestern California and into central Oregon, the storms have created red flag conditions until late Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
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