fires and storms and heat

There are fires burning in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills, triple digit heat is in the forecast for tomorrow and Monday, and thunderstorms (which could spark even more fires) are on tap for the Sierra Nevada mountains and foothills beginning tomorrow. Whew! The weather is getting active! First, I'll talk about the fires. Currently there is the American Fire burning in a remote area of the Sierra, between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Then there is a new fire burning southeast of Oroville, the Swedes Fire. This fire has ballooned from just over 200 acres last night to around 1000 acres as of early this morning. Five structures have already burned, and it's currently only 20% contained. Smoke from this fire is thick and hovering over the foothills and valley this morning. To make matters worse, the heat is building over our area, and will hit the mid 90s today (it was 98 degrees yesterday in Chico) and around 100 degrees tomorrow and Monday. A low pressure system approaching the California coast will increase the moisture and ignite thunderstorms over the mountains and foothills beginning tomorrow and lasting through most of next week. Lightning from these fires may start new fires, so keep an eye to the sky if traveling to the mountains over the next several days. Some of these thunderstorms may even affect some valley locations Monday through Wednesday. The good news in all of this is that the temperatures will be cooling off drastically by the end of next week; expect highs only in the 80s by Thursday and Friday! Here is the seven day forecast for Chico from the National Weather Service: Today Sunny, with a high near 95. Calm wind becoming south southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 67. South wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. Sunday Sunny and hot, with a high near 101. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon. Sunday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Light and variable wind. Monday A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 100. Light and variable wind. Monday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. Tuesday A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. Tuesday Night A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. Wednesday A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Wednesday Night A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly clear, with a low around 63. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 87. Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 63. Friday Sunny, with a high near 89.