Northern California lightning has Cal Fire on edge

Lightning was reported in several locations around Northern California late Tuesday night and was being blamed Wednesday for an 8- to 10-acre brush and timberland fire north of Lake Berryessa.

But Californians escaped the kind of fire storm that was sparked 6½ weeks ago by thousands of dry lightning strikes across the northern part of the state, authorities said.

Lightning was spotted late Tuesday toward the Mendocino National Forest north of Clear Lake and the Lake County communities of Upper Lake and Clearlake Oaks, a Cal Fire spokeswoman said.

Rain, especially around Lake Berryessa, helped limit the chance of fires there, authorities said.

Precipitation also followed the lightning as the storm moved north through the Sacramento Valley toward Mount Shasta and northeastern California, National Weather Service forecaster Steve Anderson said.

One fire start was located near the community of Brooks in Yolo County, along Highway 116 at County Road 80, Cal Fire Communications Operator Emily Smith said.

The fire was discovered at 11:23 p.m. Tuesday and spread to eight or 10 acres before it was contained Wednesday morning, Cal Fire personnel said.

A Cal Fire helicopter patrolled the area Wednesday morning but found no other fires.

The Konocti lookout tower in Lake County, from which lightning was spotted Tuesday night, was staffed because of forecast lightning, Smith said.

Anderson, with the National Weather Service, said the forecast called for clearing skies with cooler temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s through Tuesday.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.

com.