Units from Cal Fire CZU San Mateo-Santa Cruz spent Thursday checking terrain in Mid County and South County regions for any spot fires that might have been ignited by thunderbolts from a storm that passed through the area late Wednesday and early Thursday. Cal Fire said the region experienced 173 lightning strikes within a 24 hour period, five of which were confirmed within the unit's coverage area of Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties.
By 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, the weather service had recorded about 4,800 lightning strikes from Sacramento to San Luis Obispo, including 1,300 that touched the ground. The weather service said an unknown amount of fires started overnight in southeast Monterey County and in southwestern Fresno County early Tuesday. It was not known immediately how big any of those fires were, but Cal Fire had not reported any new ones on its list of California's major ones.