Weather & climate

The first widespread mountain snowstorm of the season is crossing the West this weekend, and the National Weather Service has winter storm warnings and advisories from the Sierra Nevada to the Rockies.

In California, a winter weather advisory runs until 7 a.m. Sunday for Yosemite outside the valley, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, with 4 to 8 inches between 7,500 and 9,500 feet and up to 18 inches higher up. The northern Sierra, including Interstate 80 and Highway 50, could see up to 10 inches above 7,000 feet, with chain controls possible, and the Lake Tahoe area 2 to 5 inches above 7,000 feet. Nevada's Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range are under a winter storm warning through Sunday evening, with 12 to 16 inches above 7,500 feet and snow-covered roads through Lamoille Canyon.

Farther east, Utah's Wasatch south of Interstate 80 and the western Uintas expect 8 to 12 inches from Saturday night to Monday morning, with 18 to 24 inches possible above 10,000 feet in Little and Big Cottonwood canyons. Colorado's San Juan Mountains are under winter storm warnings from Sunday to Monday, with 12 to 18 inches above 10,000 feet and gusts to 45 mph, and lighter snow is forecast for the central Colorado mountains, Idaho's Sun Valley area and Wyoming's Wind River Range.

If you are heading up: high mountain roads such as Yosemite's Tioga Road can close temporarily or for the season after storms like this, so check park and state road status before you drive, carry chains, and tell someone your plans. Backpackers in the high country should expect winter conditions and check the latest forecast.

Hatteras Island is open to visitors again. Dare County lifted its visitor evacuation order on Thursday, October 29, as N.C. 12 reopened near the Pea Island Visitor Center, a day ahead of the transportation department's Friday target, ending a closure that began with overwash on October 22. Visitors can again drive N.C. 12 across Pea Island and use the Ocracoke-Hatteras ferries, WRAL reports, though traffic remains slow through the repaired section.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore reopened its Frisco and Cape Point campgrounds at 4 p.m. Thursday, and most off-road vehicle ramps are open again, the park said; current ramp status is at go.nps.gov/beachaccess. The park asks visitors to use caution on Rodanthe beaches, where several oceanfront houses are still threatened and storm debris may be on the beach and in the water.

The road is still fragile. The state has said a permanent two-lane repair is weeks away and is planning to move about a mile of the highway away from the surf; check DriveNC.gov and the county before you go, especially around high tide.

The National Weather Service has flood and flash flood watches across much of the Southwest's best hiking country as another surge of tropical moisture meets an incoming storm system. In West Texas and southeast New Mexico, a watch runs through Friday afternoon for areas including the Chisos Basin and Lower Brewster County in Big Bend, the Guadalupe and Delaware mountains, the Davis Mountains and the Marfa Plateau. In New Mexico's Sacramento Mountains, the Albuquerque office warned of storms repeatedly crossing burn scars Thursday afternoon and evening, with 1 to 1.5 inches of rain possible.

In Arizona, the Flagstaff office has a flash flood watch from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday for Yavapai County, including Oak Creek and Sycamore canyons around Sedona, and northern Gila County, where soils are still saturated from flooding last week; it warns of flooding in creeks, normally dry washes, swimming holes and recently burned areas, with half an inch to an inch of rain and up to two inches in storms. The Phoenix office has watches Friday for the Superstition and Mazatzal mountains, the Tonto Basin and the Phoenix metro area.

If you are headed out: skip slot canyons and narrow washes until the watch ends, since a storm miles away can send water through a dry canyon under clear sky. Camp well above creek beds, never drive or walk into water over a low-water crossing, and check the latest from the Weather Service and the park or forest before you go. Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains national parks post road and trail closures on their alerts pages.

The National Weather Service has a coastal flood warning for the Orange County and San Diego County coasts until 1 p.m. Thursday, October 29, for significant flooding during the late-morning high tides. Numerous roads may be closed, and low-lying homes, businesses and some infrastructure could be inundated, the San Diego office says. From San Luis Obispo County to the Los Angeles County beaches, including Malibu, Ventura and Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands, a coastal flood advisory warns of minor to moderate flooding over beach parking lots, bike paths and harbor walkways, and moderate to significant beach erosion.

These are king tides, the year's highest astronomical tides, running even higher than predicted. Newport Beach officials have reported water 15 to 22 inches above forecast levels, which Surfer magazine attributes to an El Niño-driven ocean wave that has raised sea level along the coast; Tuesday's high tide in Newport was expected to reach a record 8.5 feet. Several cities have declared local emergencies and built sand berms.

More is coming. The Weather Service expects widespread rain across Southern California Saturday, October 31, into Sunday, from a plume of Pacific moisture of the kind known as a Pineapple Express, with about an inch possible south of Point Conception and more in the foothills.

For surfers and beachgoers: expect closed lots and flooded beach paths around midday high tides, strong backwash and debris in the lineup, and poor water quality after the rain. County health departments usually advise staying out of the ocean for 72 hours after significant rain. Check your county's beach status and the Weather Service before going.

Fishing for salmon and all game fish closes Saturday, October 24, on many rivers and streams in Washington's Coastal Region because of near-historic low flows and coho returns well below forecast, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said October 21.

The closures cover the Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor river systems, including the Chehalis, Humptulips, Willapa and Naselle rivers, plus the Copalis and Moclips rivers and Joe Creek. Separate emergency rules issued the same day close the Salmon River and the upper Quinault; check each rule for its start date. Marine Areas 2-1 and 2-2 close too, except the Ocean Shores and Westport boat basins. They add to this month's closures on the Hoh, Quillayute and Clearwater systems, so for the Naselle, the hatchery reach that reopened October 16 closes again Saturday.

"Rivers across much of Western Washington are at near historic low flows following minimal precipitation during the summer and early fall," said Chad Herring, the department's Coastal Region fish program manager. Washington's Department of Ecology declared a statewide drought in April, and several treaty tribes have also cut or closed their fall fisheries.

One opening: the Dungeness River on the North Olympic Peninsula opens to salmon and game fish Friday, October 23, as scheduled, with the salmon limit cut to two hatchery coho. The department says it may reopen closed rivers if flows rise or monitoring shows salmon moving upstream; the Northwest River Forecast Center tracks flows.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore closed its campgrounds, off-road vehicle ramps and visitor facilities at noon Saturday, October 17, along with Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial, the Park Service said. They will reopen after conditions improve and post-storm assessments are done.

Dare County has declared a state of emergency and ordered a mandatory evacuation of visitors from Hatteras Island, and Hyde County, which includes Ocracoke, has issued an urgent warning to residents, property owners and visitors, according to the park.

The Weather Service expects a prolonged low-pressure system to affect eastern North Carolina from this weekend into next week, with north to northeast gusts of 45 to 55 mph, high surf, ocean overwash and coastal flooding. Wind, coastal flood, high surf and storm-force wind watches and advisories are in effect.

Several privately owned oceanfront houses in Rodanthe are structurally compromised and at risk of collapse, the park warns, with exposed septic systems. If one collapses, stay away from the site and downwind of it, including in the water, because debris can travel for miles along the seashore. For roads, use drivenc.gov; for forecasts, weather.gov/mhx.

Typhoon Dujuan killed at least four people and injured 22 in Japan, while six people remained missing after landslides, according to reports compiled on September 22. Separately, Tunisia's weather service said this summer was the country's hottest since records began in 1950, about 2.9 degrees Celsius (5.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above the previous record, with heat waves contributing to water shortages and power cuts.

Dozens of large wildfires are burning across Oregon, covering more than 1 million acres of mostly rangeland, the Oregon Department of Forestry said Monday, July 27, according to Jefferson Public Radio and NPR. The Fox Fire forced the Oregon Department of Transportation to close about 70 miles of Interstate 84 between Baker City and Ontario near the Idaho line; the freeway later reopened with one westbound lane, and sections may close again with little notice.

Residents of the Warm Springs Reservation evacuated, where the merged Bench and Beachcomb fires covered about 40,200 acres and burned six homes, and other communities in central and eastern Oregon were under evacuation notices. Highways including U.S. 20 between Burns and Ontario and U.S. 26 east of Prineville were also affected. Oregon is coming off its driest and warmest winter on record, with little snowpack and very dry fuels, NPR reports; lightning started many of the fires, and more was forecast.

Travelers can check road conditions at TripCheck.com or by calling 511, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued air quality advisories for the smoke.

Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, about 40 miles east of New Orleans, on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 22, with maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. It was Louisiana's first direct hit of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, The Advocate reports. Tropical-storm-force winds reached as far as 160 miles from the center, and a gust of 44 mph was recorded at New Orleans Lakefront Airport, the Associated Press reported; storm surge up to 3 feet was possible.

Bertha moved back over the Gulf and made a second landfall on Thursday afternoon, July 23, near the Louisiana-Texas line, about 75 miles northeast of Galveston, the hurricane center said, and was expected to weaken rapidly over land, with some coastal surge and isolated flash flooding possible. Bertha is the second named storm of the season, after Tropical Storm Arthur in June. The National Hurricane Center posts every advisory and forecast at nhc.noaa.gov.