Overview

• The National Weather Service logged nearly 4,800 lightning strikes between midnight and 5:30 a.m. on Sept. 2 from the inland East Bay into the Central Valley, with most places receiving less than 0.10 inch of rain.
• CAL FIRE reported 45 new fires within its jurisdiction from early Tuesday into Wednesday, with many burning in the Sierra foothills.
• The TCU September Lightning Complex in Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Calaveras counties has grown to nearly 14,000 acres, with challenging terrain complicating containment efforts.
• Evacuations and structure losses have been reported, including significant damage in the Gold Rush town of Chinese Camp.
• Official early-hours strike totals differ from higher estimates by analysts who tallied nearly 11,000 ground strikes over 31 hours, and new research warns lightning-sparked fire days are likely to increase in parts of the West in coming decades.