San Diego, California

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This Is Why Dry Lightning Is Such A Huge Threat To California

Researchers are worried about dry lightning strikes and wildfires in California as the drought continues.

CNN says a new study found that over the past few decades, nearly half of the lightning strikes that hit the ground during spring and summer had been dry, with no rain falling nearby, and dry lightning has ignited some of the most destructive and costly wildfires in California history.

Dry lightning tends to happen in storms over areas of extreme drought, like the one California has been in for three years now.

All of the seven largest fires in California history have occurred in the past five years, and four of those were caused by lightning, according to data from Cal Fire.

The study, funded by NASA and published Monday in the journal Environmental Research: Climate, found dry lightning most frequently happened in July and August, though lower elevation regions tended to see activity peak later in September and October, when vegetation is even drier.


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