A late-arriving monsoonal pattern pulled atmospheric moisture north and, combined with lingering regional heat, created instability favorable for thunderstorms. The surge increased the likelihood of gusty winds, dangerous dry lightning and brief heavy downpours across California's interior mountains and eastern deserts. Rapid lightning strikes sparked several forest fires in mountain areas. Strong weekend winds in Nevada produced a ferocious dust storm that shuttered Burning Man gates and its nearby airport, generated winds up to 50 mph, and led to several injuries. Yosemite received rare August rainfall, with localized totals from 0.1 inch in the valley to over 2 inches at higher elevations.
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,
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,
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