Meteorologists Warn Thunderstorms Could Spark California Wildfires

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The combination of tropical moisture and an offshore storm will result in an uptick in thunderstorms across portions of California on Wednesday and Thursday, weather experts are warning.

With most of the storms will contain little or no rain and could lead to a surge in wildfires, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.

“AccuWeather meteorologists are increasingly concerned about the risk for dry thunderstorms to develop across parts of California on Wednesday and into Thursday as a surge of mid-level atmospheric moisture arrives along with a jet stream disturbance,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter stated. “This is the type of set up that in the past has resulted in significant number of lightning strikes. Given the dry ground — and the dry air near the ground due to the serious drought situation over recent years, most rain has a tendency to evaporate before it reaches the ground so we are left with a scenario where there is a lot of lightning and not a lot of rainfall, and that can be a significant concern for sparking new wildfires.”

Their concern is greatest in mountain areas in higher terrains from just south of San Francisco Bay down to the mountains of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. Some of the areas with the greatest risk for dry thunderstorms have been recently upgraded to ‘Extreme’ or ‘Level 4’ drought classification.

In recent months, California has been spared from some of the worst wildfires in the Southwest, with massive fires raging in New Mexico and Arizona, but that could be about to change, the experts say.