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SAN FRANCISCO – (AP) – Rapid thunderstorms with lightning and little rain moved across northern California on Friday morning, increasing the risk of new wildfires in the drought-stricken region.
A red flag warning for critical fire weather conditions is expected to remain in effect throughout the day, but the threat of a thunderstorm is expected to abate in most areas by late morning, the National Weather Service said.
The official downtown San Francisco rain gauge recorded 0.01 inch (0.25 millimeter) of rain at 5 a.m., marking the first time it rained on Sept. 10 since 1978, the service said. meteorological. The last measurable September rains in the city occurred in 2019.
Thunderstorms also moved across parts of southern California on Thursday and early Friday, triggering concerns of flash floods for burn scars from past wildfires.
An area scorched by the 2020 Bobcat Fire in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles received more than half an inch (15 millimeters) of rain, most in a period of about 15 minutes.
The threat of lightning-induced fires came as thousands of firefighters advanced to contain more than a dozen large fires, mostly located in the forests of northern California.
A historic drought and recent heat waves linked to climate change have made wildfires more difficult to fight in the American West. Scientists say climate change has made the region much hotter and drier over the past 30 years and will continue to make weather conditions more extreme and forest fires more frequent and destructive.
So far this year, more than 7,000 fires have burned 3,300 square miles (8,500 square kilometers) in California, destroying more than 3,000 structures, including many homes, according to the firefighting agency of California. ‘State.
President Joe Biden will examine the damage caused by the fires during a visit to California next week in which he will also campaign for Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who faces a recall election on Tuesday.
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