Lightning strikes believed to be the cause of multiple fires in California
Crews battle multiple fires in Northern California believed to be caused by lightning strikes.
Rare summer thunderstorms that roared across Northern California early Sunday jolted residents across the region awake with vivid lightning and also sparked dozens of wildfires across the region.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said that more than 2,500 lightning strikes were recorded in the Bay Area and along the Central Coast, leaving a spectacular display in the sky.
“This is probably the most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in memory for Bay Area, & it’s also one of the hottest nights in years," tweeted Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
CALIFORNIA HIT BY 'FREQUENT LIGHTNING' AS SEVERE WEATHER SLAMS BAY AREA, SPARKS NEW FIRES
Forecasters said that moisture from an offshore tropical storm fueled the storms, which brought nonstop lightning strikes early Sunday, some of which ignited small fires and knocked out power across the San Francisco Bay Area.
A rare lightning storm crackles over Mitchell's Cove in Santa Cruz, California around 3 a.m. Sunday morning August 16, 2020. (Shmuel Thaler/The Santa Cruz Sentinel via AP)
"We had pretty much constant cloud flashes and strikes," NWS meteorologist Anna Schneider told the local Patch media group. "It's fairly unusual."
A lightning strike hits the surrounding hills near Marsh Creek Road in Brentwood, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. A severe lightning storm caused several fires near the Round Valley Regional Preserve and Morgan Territory Regional Preserve over the weekend. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Lightning that began around 3 a.m. then started triggering wildfires across the area.
“I haven’t seen lightning like that since I was a kid. It was like a strike at least every minute,” John Curtis, who lives in unincorporated Clayton, told KTVU.
A CHP officer directs traffic at the corner of Marsh Creek Road and Deer Valley Road as a vegetation fire burns in the distance in Brentwood, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)
Wind gusts in the area also reached 75 mph, according to the NWS, which said another round of lightning may develop early Monday.
Smoke from a vegetation fire caused by a lightning strike rises into the sky as seen from Marsh Creek Road in Brentwood, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)
Cal Fire, the state's firefighting agency, told the San Francisco Chronicle that Northern California saw 39 new fires Saturday night into Sunday morning.
BLISTERING HEAT ROASTS WEST WITH WIDESPREAD STORMS
Some of the blazes reached hundreds of acres, including the Deer Zone Fire in Contra Costa County.
A severe lightning storm caused several fires near the Round Valley Regional Preserve and Morgan Territory Regional Preserve. Firefighters scrambled to contain multiple blazes, sparked by widespread lightning strikes throughout the region, as a statewide heatwave continues. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)
In Monterey County, the River Fire grew to 2,800 acres, with five homes destroyed and 1,500 structures threatened on Monday morning.
Mandatory evacuations are in place for areas south of Salinas for the blaze that is only 10% contained, according to Cal Fire.
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Throughout the weekend, many areas of the state saw triple-digit temperatures, and the combination of prolonged heat and smoke from wildfires sent ozone pollution to levels not seen in a decade in some areas.
A red flag warning remains across the Bay Area on Monday, as more storms are expected.
Temperatures in California will reach 110 degrees or more from inland southern California north to Sacramento on Monday, as excessive heat warnings and watches have been issued.
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In the southern part of the state, more than 4,500 buildings remained threatened by Lake Fire fire burning toward thick, dry brush in the Angeles National Forest.
Firefighters already battling the blaze in steep, rugged terrain with scorching heat faced more hurdles when hundreds of lightning strikes and winds up to 15 mph pushed the flames uphill.
“We set up a containment line at the top of the hills so the fire doesn't spill over to the other side and cause it to spread, but it was obviously difficult given the erratic wind and some other conditions," fire spokesman Jake Miller told the Associated Press.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
