California's late summer bounty: wildfires. For the past week and more, we've been in a heat wave with temps reaching 100 on a few days and no wind, not even a breeze. 3 am Sunday brought an almost rainless summer thunderstorm -- rare in this part of California -- with 2500 lightning strikes recorded in the mountains on the north border of Santa Cruz County, leaving behind at least 30 wildfires, mostly in difficult terrain. The smoke from those fires is now lying over the northern part of the county, trapped by the hot, still weather. This morning at 8 am, we saw:
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Not our normal view. The fires aren't anywhere close to us, but the smoke is everywhere.