Rare August Snow Graces California's Mountains

August may be the last full month of summer, but snow has fallen in parts of the U.S. during the month, and not just in areas with mountains.

It has happened recently: As weird as this sounds for some of you still sweltering in heat and humidity, it did snow in the Lower 48 states last August.

As the video atop this article details, California's Sierra had as much as 3 inches of snow on Aug. 24, 2024, bringing at least a light dusting to places such as Lassen Volcanic National Park and Palisades Tahoe ski resort. It was the first Sierra August snow in over 20 years, according to the National Weather Service.

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Four years ago, it also snowed in late August in Colorado's high country, though snow over these highest peaks of the Rockies isn't uncommon in any summer month.

An unprecedented August snowstorm: Now imagine something more than just a dusting of snow in summer.

That's what happened in late August 1992 when a bizarre winter storm the National Weather Service called "an unprecedented weather event" blanketed parts of Montana.

Great Falls picked up 8.3 inches of snow from August 22-23, the first and only time measurable snow was recorded during the month in this northern Montana city since 1886. Most of the snow accumulated on grassy areas. The weight of this wet snow brought down some tree limbs around the city.

Up to 13 inches of snow fell in Glacier National Park. Montana's capital city, Helena, picked up 6.2 inches of snow and 2 inches was recorded in Bozeman on the Montana State University campus.

While each of these locations is lower in elevation than Denver, they are hundreds of miles farther north, so the magnitude of cold air trapped against the eastern slope of the Rockies allowed snow to reach the ground.

Record low temperatures were set in parts of Montana for eight of 10 days from August 21-30, including all-time August lows that still stand in Billings (35 degrees), Butte (23 degrees), Great Falls (30 degrees) and Helena (28 degrees).

And speaking of Butte, this southwest Montana city had another 5-inch snowstorm the following August, on Aug. 26, 1993.

Where else has this happened in the West: In Utah's Wasatch, Brighton reported an inch of snow on Aug. 1978 and 1960.

In Washington state, Mt. Rainier's Paradise Ranger Station measured 6 inches of snow on August 28, 1951, then another inch in late August 1960. Vacationers in Oregon's Crater Lake National Park may have been surprised by a 4.5-inch snowfall on August 15-16, 1976.

Yellowstone National Park picked up snow on August 23, 1960. An observing site on the north side of Yellowstone Lake measured 3 inches there.

Alaska's North Slope and Brooks Range typically pick up August snow. America's northernmost city, Utqiagvik - formerly known as Barrow - averages 0.8 inches of snow each August, and can see snow year-round. But on Aug. 21, 2003, they picked up almost 3 inches of snow, a record for any August day.

In late August 1922, Fairbanks picked up its only August snow on record (3 inches). Snow event reached the milder Gulf of Alaska coast in that event, as Yakutat tallied 1.5 inches, its only August snow.

It's not just a western thing: August snow is virtually nowhere to be found from the Plains to the East. Most areas in the East and Midwest typically see their first snow of the season by either November or December.

But there have been a few freak August flakes over the years.

- On Aug. 8, 1882, a ship over Lake Michigan reported a burst of snow, covering the decks with snow and slush 6 inches deep. Two days later, a brief snow squall was reported in Sandusky, Ohio.

- On Aug. 27, 1986, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, had its only trace of August snow, in records dating to 1888.

- A trace of snow fell at the airport in Duluth, Minnesota on Aug. 31, 1949, the earliest known snowfall for the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

- A late Aug. 1839 hurricane interacted with just enough cold air to wring out snow in New York's Catskill Mountains.

- A late August cold snap in 1982 shattered record lows and blanketed Vermont's Killington Resort with 3 inches of snow.

Where Eastern August snow is a bit less weird: Sitting atop a 6,288-foot peak in the White Mountains of northern New Hampshire, the Mount Washington Observatory is the world's most extreme weather reporting station.

It doesn't happen every year, but the observatory has seen measurable snow in August before. They average about 0.1 inch of snow each August, though that could also be in the form of hail or other frozen pellets other than pure snow.

But from Aug. 29-30, 1965, they picked up 2.5 inches of snow, the station's August record.

Summer hikers to the summit should know that snow can never be completely ruled out there in August.

(Thanks to climate scientist Brian Brettschneider for his considerable help with the data for this piece.)

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.