West Coast Bracing: Danger From High Winds, Lightning Storms Through Friday, Heatwave In Place

[hatrack]

EDIT

Lightning – which was responsible for the starts of the devastating August Complex fires that broke records last year – is especially dangerous in California’s drought-ridden climate, where parched landscapes can cause fires to spread faster and exhibit intensifying behavior that is difficult to contain.

The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) also warned of the potential for extreme fire behavior such as pyrocumulonimbus clouds, massive formations generated by smoke and heat that can reach miles into the sky and can even stir up winds, unleash thunder and lightning, or create its own weather. “Plume-dominated wildfire behavior and pyrocumulonimbus development are possible on active large fires in the Sierra into north-east California, central Oregon, and central Idaho,” the department noted.

A National Weather Service heat advisory also stretched down through the Central Valley and into inland southern California, with an excessive heat warning extending eastward across the desert into Nevada. Across the American west, climate change has caused warmer and drier weather, fueling larger and deadlier wildfires in recent years. The US has spent 57 days at national preparedness level 5, the highest level of risk and preparation for fires as categorized by NIFC. More than 22,000 wildland firefighters continue to battle big blazes, some that have been burning for weeks.

A National Weather Service heat advisory also stretched down through the Central Valley and into inland southern California, with an excessive heat warning extending eastward across the desert into Nevada. Across the American west, climate change has caused warmer and drier weather, fueling larger and deadlier wildfires in recent years. The US has spent 57 days at national preparedness level 5, the highest level of risk and preparation for fires as categorized by NIFC. More than 22,000 wildland firefighters continue to battle big blazes, some that have been burning for weeks.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/09/california-fire-weather-caldor-dixie-latest

[Polly Hennessey]

1. Right now in the Foothills I am listening to thunder

and looking at rain falling. Rain, rain!
It is raining. I am about 25 miles west of Grizzly Flats.