SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — California's interior is hot and dry and the forecast calls for a risk of fire-starting dry lightning as thousands of firefighters already have their hands full with wildland blazes.

A heat advisory for Wednesday stretches of the Central Valley and through inland Southern California, with an excessive heat warning extending eastward across the deserts.

The forecast calls for a fire weather watch Thursday evening through Friday evening in much of Northern California due to a chance of thunderstorms with lightning and erratic gusts.

Nearly 15,000 firefighters are battling 14 major wildfires, including three of the state’s 20 largest fires on record.