Mammoth Times

09/03/2025

Thunder, rain, lightning and... smoke? Yep, this stuff that looks like brown fog and clouds above the Sherwin Crest and Mammoth Mountain is indeed smoke coming over the Sierra crest from the south west at exactly the same time the storms hit the Mammoth area today, Sept. 2, 2025. The two things: smoke and an incoming storm, created a truly surreal scene: skies almost as dark as dusk at 3 p.m. today; dozens or even hundreds of lightning strikes flashing through the smoke and rain; thunder rumbling and growling the whole time. Crazy times.
Anyhow... as most of you know by now, the smoke seen here is from the Garnet Fire burning east of Fresno in the Sierra foothills and it is no threat to the Eastern Sierra. However, it is now more than 28,000 acres, which is big enough to really impact us because of the prevailing southwest wind direction. That means until this fire calms down or is suppressed more, be ready for smoke in the Eastern Sierra any time the wind comes from the southwest. At the same time today, there were multiple lightning strikes right here in our backyard and local and federal firefighters are busting their backs trying to get all of them out ASAP. Keep your eyes open when you are out over the next week or so because once the weather dries out, some of these strikes could pop back up and become wildfires. In the meantime, be glad most of our local strikes came with a whole lot of rain; something too many places in the state were not blessed with today.
Be safe out there and stay aware.

08/28/2025

🚨 Wildfire Smoke and Your Health 🚨

Wildfire smoke is affecting our region again. Smoke exposure can cause serious health problems, especially for children, older adults, pregnant people. Outdoor workers, and those with asthma, COPD and heart conditions.

08/28/2025

While the 13,934-acre (as of Thursday morning, Aug. 28) Garnet Fire burning east of Fresno in the Sierra National Forest foothill area is no threat to Eastern Sierra residents/property because it is on the west side of the Sierra crest, it is shaping up to be our largest smoke producer of the season so far. That is because this fire is in the perfect location to send smoke over the Sierra crest due to the fact that it is almost directly southwest of the Mammoth/Long Valley area, which is the direction from which most of our summer winds come from. Once a fire in the Sierra foothills in that area grows to a certain size, it can create enough smoke to make it over the Sierra crest and into the Owens Valley, Long Valley, Mammoth area, and even points north.
The Eastern Sierra has been extremely — and relative to most of the West — lucky during this week of thunder and lightning storms because of the monsoon-driven rain which has accompanied most of our local strikes.But once things dry out this coming week as the forecast indicates will occur, that could change. Smoldering, not-yet-visible strikes could become visible as they dry out and gain some traction. Be vigilant and report any smokes you see.
There have been a huge number of lightning strikes in other west slope areas as well; more large fires could emerge from these strikes if firefighting resources, already stretched thin, cannot catch them in time to prevent expansion. That could throw more smoke into the Eastern Sierra as well: we should know in a few days what to expect.
So, if you want to know more about this, along with local and other news sites and weather apps you might already use, we recommend you load an app called Watch Duty onto your phone and set the boundaries for the area(s) you want to be notified about. The app is award-winning and used by professional firefighters; it has been proven to use only reliable information. It is a good way to be able to see all the fires you want to monitor in one reliable app, even allowing you to see constantly updated fire perimeters, wind directions, evacuation zones, size, resources allocated, terrain, etc. Best of all, you can set it for personal alerts so once a fire is in the boundaries you have chosen, you will get an alert about the status of that fire, if you so chose. The free version is a good start, for sure!

The Garnet Fire, presently burning in Fresno County directly west of Kings Canyon National Park, is the source of the smoke settling in the Eastern Sierra Region.
Photo courtesy of the WatchDuty app.

08/26/2025

State Route 108 (Sonora Pass) in Mono County is closed from the county line to the lower gate just west of the Marine Base due to flooding near Kennedy Meadows. Caltrans, District 10 is monitoring the situation.

For the latest on all highway conditions, visit quickmap.dot.ca.gov or download the app.

08/22/2025

On August 21st, 2025, at approximately 9:OOpm El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to a report of a shooting in a residence located in the 3000 block of Oakwood Rd. Cameron Park, CA. When Deputies arrived, they located an adult female and juvenile male inside the residence with gunshot wounds. No one else was located inside the residence. The adult was pronounced deceased on scene, and the juvenile was provided immediate medical care and transported to a local area hospital where he was unfortunately pronounced deceased.

During the initial investigation, it was determined that CalFire employee Darin McFarlin, 47 years old of Cameron Park, CA was a person of interest. McFarlin was located just after midnight was detained in Mono County without incident. On August 22nd, at 5:30am Darin McFarlin, was booked into the El Dorado County Jail for two counts of homicide. He is being held on zero dollar bail.

The identifications of the victims are not being released until proper next of kin notifications have been made. A second juvenile who resided in the residence was located safe.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office wishes to thank the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Mono County Sheriff’s Office, and the California Highway Patrol for their assistance in this investigation.

08/20/2025

https://www.kcra.com/article/south-lake-tahoe-resident-tests-positive-for-plague/65824589

Human cases of plague are extremely rare but can be very serious.