In addition, "no one has seen a springtime like this with the winds," Juskie said.
Breezes, which can fan a small fire into an inferno, have been whipping for days at a time, with velocities reaching 20 mph or more. They've been caused by a clash between high-pressure storm systems moving through the Pacific Northwest and low pressure hovering over the Southwest. Northern California sits between the two pinwheeling systems, which have caused persistent winds.
The good news, Juskie said, is that the winds should die down with summer's onset.
The bad news is that "we're still hot and dry," he said. "So we're not out of the woods. Even without the wind, we're bone dry."
As for the lightning, Juskie said it was unusual because of the vast territory it hit.
Though lightning strikes in the Sierra most summers, recent conditions sent thunderstorms reeling in from the Pacific across most of Northern California, from Monterey County up through Mendocino and inland into the far northern mountains of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, where more than 60 blazes burned in the backwoods.
In Mendocino County, 131 fires had burned more than 8,900 acres, with 50 rural homes still potentially in harm's way. Among the most threatening of the fires was a swath straddling Napa and Solano counties northwest of Fairfield. Nearly 4,100 acres had burned and 150 homes remained threatened at nightfall Monday.
With dozens of fires still burning, air quality suffered all over Northern California.
In Sacramento, smoke barreled down the valley from the various fires and left the capital city shrouded in a particulate plume. Regulators declared the air unhealthy because of the smoke, with the air quality index surging as high as 166 in Roseville and 157 in downtown Sacramento.
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eric.bailey@latimes.com
