Another round of thunderstorms is likely overnight in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California, the National Weather Service said.
A plume of moisture that fuels the storms can be traced back to Tropical Storm Fausto in the Pacific southwest of Baja California.
Red flag warnings for dry lightning are widespread in Northern California, along with excessive heat warnings and heat warnings.
By late Sunday morning, isolated showers and thunderstorms appeared to the north, but another – possibly water – round thunderstorm was expected, peaking during the night hours and Monday morning, the weather service said.
About 2,500 cloud-to-ground lightning streaks were recorded over a 12-hour period Sunday morning across the Bay Area and the Central Coast, though many of those were across the ocean, the weather service said. Cloud-to-cloud lightning activity was almost constant.
The lightning caused dozens of fires in the northern, eastern and southern parts of the Bay Area and and the Santa Cruz Mountains to Monterey. Rain was mostly light, but there were numerous reports of wind gusts in excess of 50 mph and wind damage, according to the weather service. Las Trampas, in the hills in the eastern part of the Bay Area, reported gusts up to 75 mph. Small hail was also reported at some locations.
Red flag warnings remain in effect through Monday morning.
