California was transformed into a nightmarish hellscape over the weekend, with powerful lightning storms triggering new wildfires – some of which became fire tornados – as Death Valley temperatures hit a possible world record.
Ferocious storms lashed vast swaths of California, with thousands of bolts of lightning triggering localized wildfires and causing major power outages across San Francisco’s Bay Area.
Okay now THIS might be the coolest #lightning video I’ve ever taken.. featuring my cat Koda pic.twitter.com/yTENds43Aa
Lighting storm over San Francisco. It’s pretty incredible. #nbcbayarea#abc7eyewitnesspic.twitter.com/0vTvl6qBGQ
@nbcbayarea#lightning#Oaklandpic.twitter.com/far2OtXJQv
Several jaw-dropping photographs captured the sheer scale and ferocity of the tempests.
A massive fast-moving apparent “Roll Cloud” impacted the Santa Cruz Coast shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday morning. #CAwx@RobMayeda@Weather_West@dannciancapic.twitter.com/jFSmWGyxiA
@GeorgeKrieger photographed lightning striking over the Monterey Bay while bioluminescent phytoplankton was glowing bright blue in the ocean below.Krieger said his image is “a polished 2 frame stack of sequential 6 second exposures.”https://t.co/4KGFm0SYdO@kron4news#CAwxpic.twitter.com/y7VKyrr1gy
Wild lightning tonight along the coast, as seen from Pacifica, CA. #CAwx@NWSBayAreapic.twitter.com/WJhvq7l7lg
Meanwhile, as authorities continued their battle with existing major wildfires sweeping the state (The Lake Fire is just 12 percent contained), the rare summer thunderstorm forced hundreds of residents to evacuate throughout Northern California.
Some 4,500 buildings were at risk from new wildfire outbreaks caused by the storm, with authorities issuing rare warnings of so-called “fire tornados” sweeping through the area north of Lake Tahoe on Saturday afternoon.
#RiverFire T944 Supertanker 747 circling to make a drop. Such a big plane! pic.twitter.com/sCpdQqWazu
Fire tornado like activity as the #LoyaltonFire made a quick push towards US-395. #CAwx#FireTornadopic.twitter.com/h5wihG7UEW
A fire cloud known as a pyrocumulonimbus formed above the blaze in Loyalton, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Reno, Nevada.
And just before it disintegrated #SantaClara#smokeringpic.twitter.com/UkHdW1RabW
The heat and smoke from the ongoing wildfires sent pollution levels soaring to highs not seen in decades as air quality plummeted.
Measurements from the Death Valley area recorded highs of 130F (54.4C) which, if confirmed by NOAA, would break the record for the highest official temperature ever reliably recorded.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, said it might be the “most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in memory for Bay Area,” while expressing concern that the current heatwave hitting California is “not even half over.”
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