MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES–Who would have expected such an intense weather weekend in July? Several thunderstorms made their way through the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada Mountains early in the weekend. Sunday morning culminated in an intense thunderstorm moving through the foothills. It all began with warnings from The National Weather Service (NWS) that thunderstorms would move through the area over ...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK-The Pika Fire currently burning behind North Dome in Yosemite National Park (YNP) is now 818 acres in size. As previously reported here, park officials use a confined and contained strategy that allows the fire to move naturally across the landscape, providing ecological benefits to plants and wildlife while meeting protection objectives to minimize risk to people and ...