Fires and Floods in the Eastern Sierra
The recent thunderstorm activity in the Eastern Sierra Nevada has caused it’s usual problems throughout the mountains. Numerous lightning strike fires were started along with some flooding issues in Mammoth Lakes.
The Sierra Wave reports that the largest fire began Saturday near Bridgeport. As of yesterday it was at 686 acres in size and 70% contained. There was also a fire south of Mono Lake that was 100 acres in size and caused the closure of Highway 120 East. Most of the other fires were small in size and quickly put out.
There were also some flooding problems in Mammoth Lakes with a couple homes and some businesses being affected. Much of the flooding had to do with drainage issues the town is having.
On a non Sierra thunderstorm note, here is a link to some photos of what could be the largest hail stones ever recorded. It fell in South Dakota on Friday, July 23rd. These are amazing! http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=abr&storyid=55671&source=0
Those are huge!! Did any body get hurt??
I don’t know. All I’ve seen about them are the pictures. If one of those hit you on the head, it would most likely kill you.
i happened to check the mill creek webcam around 6pm yesterday and saw all the smoke comimg up south of mono lake. i then checked the mono lake committee update and they had a report on. it had apparently only started around 5pm.
Here’s the Inciweb link for the Mono Fire: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2042/
I was in the Sierra this past weekend for the storms. Really got hit by marble-sized hail over Tioga Pass around Tenaya Lake. Parked and watched as flash floods created instant waterfalls. I’ll try to post them later. Also had thunderstorms in Rock Creek and Bishop Creek (North, South and Sabrina lakes) Beautiful in their own way!
Be safe back there.