2008 FOREST FIRES IN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, USA

Abstract

An unusually large outbreak of fires for northern California occurred in June 2008. Unprecedented dry thunderstorms with severe lightning occurred under very dry conditions due to the rainless weather since March. More than 8,000 lightning flashes were observed mainly in northern California and western Nevada. After the historical dry thunderstorms, more than 800 forest and wildland fires started and many lasted more than a month under dry and hot summer conditions. The peak number of fires totaled 2,696 and total burned area reached about 4,580 km