
A lightning map from Blitzortung shows lightning strikes around the west from Sunday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon.
As
hundreds of lightning bolts strike the region, CAL FIRE is staffing its lookout towers and sending planes into the air to scour the region for plumes of smoke signaling fires.
"We're out there scanning the area and any smokes that develop we have our resources that can address it," says Cal Fire spokesperson Scott McLean.
From Monday morning through Tuesday morning, 79 fires were counted in Lassen, Modoc and Siskyou counties by CAL FIRE and the U.S. Forest Service, and lightning was likely the cause of most of them, says McLean.
While the conditions are extreme, it could be a lot worse. "This a combination of dry and wet lightning so we have some moisture follow through," McLean says. "In 2008, there were a lot more fires started by lightning."
In 2008, thousands of lightning strikes resulted in 191,294 acres burning.
Comment: See also: Lightning strikes blamed for three house fires in Flagstaff, Arizona