A 'Winter Storm Warning' in the final days of June is set to bring heavy snow of up to three feet and winds gusting to 60mph to parts of the western United States this week, according to the US National Weather Service. The late-season system is forecast to hit high elevations in the Sierra Nevada and Cascades from Sunday 28 June into Monday 29 June, just as Americans prepare for July celebrations.
The alarm from the Weather Prediction Center lands at the very moment many Americans are planning barbecues and fireworks rather than digging out snow chains. Yet meteorologists say conditions in parts of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and the northern Rockies will look and feel far closer to early spring than high summer, particularly above 6,500 to 7,000 feet where the bulk of the accumulating snow is expected.
