Massive Fires Cause Twisters, Lightning

A massive wildfire covering nearly 100 square miles in Southern California destroyed over 200 buildings late this week. The fire is producing its own fire vortexes (small tornadoes), clouds and thunderstorms, but the dry air won't let rain from the thunderstorms hit the ground. As a result, the storms are causing more, larger fires with lightning and could strike the nearly 3,000 firefighters trying to calm the flames.

Smoke could be seen drifting into Nevada on a visible satellite loop this morning:

Smoke and clouds were also picked up by the local NEXRAD radar loop:

Here are some of the incredible photos from the Associated Press:

State of Emergency - July 13, 2006 - Flames spiral upward in mini-tornadoes on a ridge as the Sawtooth Complex fire moves through Big Morongo Canyon, Thursday, July 13, 2006, in Morongo Valley, Calif. The huge Sawtooth fire edged northwest toward the forest, and an evacuation was ordered for dozens of homes in Morongo Valley. Containment was just 20 percent. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County to better coordinate and expedite state efforts to help people affected. (AP Photo/ Reed Saxon)

Pioneertown, Calif., is seen in a panoramic view Thursday, July 13, 2006, after it was hit by the Ridge Fire on Tuesday. A 40,000-acre fire chewed through desert wilderness Thursday after destroying 100 homes and buildings and was on course to possibly merge with a blaze in the San Bernardino National Forest. (AP Photo/The San Bernardino Sun, LaFonzo Rachal Carter)

CNN.com contributed to this article (more news sources).

It's not just California though - major wildfires are active in nearly every Western state:

And the fire danger will continue to be high in much of those areas this weekend:

2006 has been brutal. So far this year, we're far above the 10-year average number of fires and nearly twice the average for number of acres burned. And it's only July! (Stats from late this week)

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