PHOTOS: Lightning storm, easterly wind: How the wildfires got so bad

Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. First was a dramatic lightning storm over Northern and Central California. Thousands of bolts ignited hundreds of fires in parched grasslands and vineyards. Then, warm, dry winds blew toward the West Coast — not the usual direction. One month after the lightning storm set the stage, firefighters are still battling the blazes. At least 34 people have died. About 5,300 square miles have burned this year in California. That’s more than ever before, according to Cal Fire. In Oregon, the figure is about 1,560 square miles, nearly double the 10-year average.

FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2020, file photo, lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland, Calif. Numerous lightning strikes sparked brush fires throughout the region. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)Photo by: Noah Berger/AP
FILE - In this Aug. 18, 2020, file photo, an air tanker drops retardant as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through the Spanish Flat community in unincorporated Napa County, Calif. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)Photo by: Noah Berger/AP
FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2020, file photo, flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires consume a home in unincorporated Napa County, Calif. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)Photo by: Noah Berger/AP
FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2020, file photo, Thomas Henney, left, and Charles Chavira watch a plume spread over Healdsburg, Calif., as the LNU Lightning Complex fires burn. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)Photo by: Noah Berger/AP
FILE - In this Aug. 21, 2020, file photo, firefighters make a stand in the backyard of a home in front of the advancing CZU August Lightning Complex Fire in Boulder Creek, Calif. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)Photo by: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2020, file photo, fire burns in the hollow of an old-growth redwood tree in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Calif. The CZU Lightning Complex wildfire tore through the park but most of the redwoods, some as old as 2,000 years, were still standing. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)Photo by: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2020, file photo, members of a hand crew work on the fire line in Yucaipa, Calif. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)Photo by: Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2020, file photo, an air tanker drops retardant as a wildfire burns at a hillside in Yucaipa, Calif. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)Photo by: Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2020, file photo, firefighter Ricardo Gomez, of a San Benito Monterey Cal Fire crew, sets a controlled burn with a drip torch while fighting the Creek Fire in Shaver Lake, Calif. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)Photo by: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2020, file photo, taken with a slow shutter speed, embers light up a hillside behind the Bidwell Bar Bridge as the Bear Fire burns in Oroville, Calif. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)Photo by: Noah Berger/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2020, file photo, flames lick above vehicles on Highway 162 as the Bear Fire burns in Oroville, Calif. The blaze, part of the lightning-sparked North Complex, expanded at a critical rate of spread as winds buffeted the region. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)Photo by: Noah Berger/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2020, file photo, The Reyes family looks at the destruction of their home at Coleman Creek Estates mobile home park in Phoenix, Ore. The area was destroyed when a wildfire swept through on Sept. 8. (AP Photo/Paula Bronstein, File)Photo by: Paula Bronstein/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2020, file photo, Dora Negrete is consoled by her son Hector Rocha after seeing their destroyed mobile home at the Talent Mobile Estates, in Talent, Ore., after wildfires devastated the region. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Paula Bronstein, File)Photo by: Paula Bronstein/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2020, file photo, Desiree Pierce cries as she visits her home destroyed by the Almeda Fire in Talent, Ore. "I just needed to see it, to get some closure," said Pierce. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)Photo by: John Locher/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2020, file photo, a man stops on his bike along the Willamette River as smoke from wildfires partially obscures the Tilikum Crossing Bridge in Portland, Ore. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)Photo by: John Locher/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2020, file photo, an injured cat named Prince is treated for third degree burns on his paws, stomach and face by technician assistant Kaity Kelsey, left, and vet assistant Kayla Weisz, right, both from Medford, Ore., at the Southern Oregon Veterinary Specialty Center (SOVSC), which is a 24/7 hospital dealing with rescued animals from the wildfires devastating the region in Central Point, Ore. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Paula Bronstein, File)Photo by: Paula Bronstein/AP
FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2020, file photo, Shayanne Summers holds her dog Toph while wrapped in a blanket after several days of staying in a tent at an evacuation center at the Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge in Oak Grove, Ore. "It's nice enough here you could almost think of this as camping and forget everything else, almost," said Summers about staying at the center after evacuating from near Molalla, Oregon which was threatened by the Riverside Fire. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)Photo by: John Locher/AP
FILE - In this Sept, 15, 2020, file photo, taken with a drone, fire retardant blankets leveled homes in Talent, Ore., after the Almeda Fire tore through the area. Two unusual weather phenomena combined to create some of the most destructive wildfires the West Coast states have seen in modern times. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)Photo by: Noah Berger/AP

PHOTOS: Lightning storm, easterly wind: How the wildfires got so bad

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