Endopolis

The state says there are more than 800 fires burning in Northern California. We've had our share of them locally, which is really strange especially this time of year. Fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains and in both Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties have all sent smoke billowing into the sky, all visible from various Santa Clara Valley locales.

Since Friday of last week, smoke has started filling the valley, casting an eerie, heavy haze over things. I can't see the hills around the valley, which is really rare. From time to time, it smells like a campfire outside. Air quality warnings are in effect for the whole region, and being outside generally just stinks right now. Firesare burning on both ends of the SF Bay, so no matter which way the wind blows it's not doing any good. On this NOAA analysis, you can see the smoke blowing out to Utah. Today, you can see wisps of smoke on the visible satellite image blowing to the southwest.

Most of the more recent fires were caused by a weird dry lightning storm that blew through the area on Saturday. We just don't get that kind of weather here very often, especially in June. On Saturday, we were down at the beach and got to talking to a local family. They swore they had seen a funnel cloud over the water, and at one point it was hailing on the beach while temps were in the mid-90s. We all remarked that we'd never seen anything like it in this area.

Crazy. I hope it all stops, and soon.